Ghost
by teB360
Summary: Before talk rattles around about the missing orphan 'C', strange things begin to happen behind the walls of Wammy's House For The Gifted.There is blood on the hands of everybody, the only question is, what have they done? Yaoi, hetero, blood, dark themes, BBxOC, BBxA, and BBxL references.
1. Like a ghost

**My first BB oc story that has no AU in it! :D Ohh, how wonderful! :D OH! AND THANKYOU Kakashisdancergirl for help with the title! :D**

**Alternative: A **

**Backup: Beyond Birthday**

**Lost One: L**

**DISCLAIMER: I own BB! He lives in my cupboard! :D I also own my OC! :D**

_Chapter One: __Almost like a ghost_

Snow. So soft, so white. It's just ice yet its so beautiful. Snow was always associated with the winter. In winter, you need to wear warm clothes. The usual was a pair of thick woollen gloves, and a dark heavy scarf. Thick, furry ug boots and a black woolly beanie.

It's always winter in England. Always so cold. So icy! But, this girl was not used to the climate. It was always quite warm were she had come from. Sure, it was cold sometimes, but she never needed to wear more than one jacket.

She was standing in front of a large gate that was at least 3 metres tall. It was taller than the elderly man she was standing by, and by her standards he seemed fairly long. The man looked down at her from behind his glasses. His eyes were faded, they were blue going on white. The elderly man smiled at her.

"You'll fit in just fine." She heard him speak.

The smaller girl by the age of 10 pulled back her hood so she could see him. She did not smile in acknowledgement. She gave him a blank, dark stare. The elderly man did not take any offence. He understood the reason behind her stare. She had been through a lot in her decade of existence. But, the emptiness of the stare reminded him of how monotonous L is.

"There are a few other children here, not as many as there was at your school. My orphanage contains 6 others. I think you'll easily befriend each and every one of them."

The girl quietly stared at her boots, never saying a word. She was never a very social person. She found it hard to make friends, or if she ever did, she found it hard to keep them. She had one friend that she never lost, but they were never close. That one friend the girl had was just as socially awkward as she was. Whenever the girl had a problem or an issue, her one friend could not help her.

The girl always felt so alone. She couldn't ever speak to her parents about her problems. She was too afraid to face ridicule, too afraid that something worse may take afoot if she ever took action. She had learned not to speak her emotions, not to speak her mind. She never did. To most people, what was on her mind was never clear. What she was hiding was behind a blank thousand piece puzzle, but to others, it was as simple as opening a book.

The gates before the two opened. The elderly man took her gloved hand and led her in. Behind the large gates was a mansion. The girl was not impressed at all. Sure, she'd never seen a mansion ever before in her life, well, not one as big as this, but she just did not care. If her life was in order, if no wrong doing had ever happened, maybe she'd be enthralled enough to stare at how many storeys she thought there may have been, how many windows were shining light into the many rooms that could have existed, or how she had to crane her neck just to see the clock tower up the top of the building or to read the large numbers attached to the face of the clock itself.

The girl barely looked away from her boots. The only time she completely lifted her head was when the elderly man she was accompanied with pulled open the doors to the inside of the building.

If nothing drastic had ever happened to change her life, she would have been excited to see what the inside of a mansion may look like. She'd be eager to run the many hallways, bang on the many doors, and annoy the many residence that lived behind them. But, her life had changed to the worst in a matter of hours. A few weeks later, she was sent to England and wasn't told a reasonable explanation why.

The elderly man led her into the first room on the right.

The room was an office. A fairly large one at that. There was another old man behind the desk. His hair was white with an orange tinge. Behind him were several bookshelves and a large window. On his desk was an ant farm in the corner and a pile of books in the other.

The elderly man that led her in there, sat her on a chair as he sat on the one next to hers.

The man behind the desk was looking at a book. His eyes turned for a second at the two people before him, then he placed his book on the table.

"So, you're that new kid." The other man said. He was undeniably rude to the way he addressed her.

The girl said nothing in return.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything?"

"Roger, she doesn't speak that often." The older man added. Roger leaned back in his chair. His hand slid underneath his glasses, and he wiped his eyes, obviously annoyed.

"Alright." He grumbled. "You," He addressed her. The girl sniffed at his rude behaviour. "My name is Mr. Ruvie. You will do as I say at all times, are we clear?"

_/"You will do as I say at all times." Screamed the girls teacher. The girl wiped at her tears that were streaming down her cheeks. "Y-yes sir." She stuttered./_

The girl tightly closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. "Y-yes." She answered. Her voice was uneven. It wasn't as smooth as she hoped it would be. She felt the elderly man who had introduced himself as 'Watari' the minute they met, pat her shoulder.

"Good. I already know your name, and we don't need to speak it. It's unsafe. So, it's policy we give you an alias." Mr. Ruvie's voice was flat. There was no emotion to animate it. He sounded bored and annoyed. Roger waited for an answer, but received none. "Alright, you're name begins with 'H', so you're alias will begin with that. Seeing how you are wearing a hood, I'll just call you that." He told her.

_Oh, how creative._

"Do you like your new name?" Watari asked. The girl was glad that he did not talk to her like a baby. He treated with respect. The girl decided that he was a nicer, virtuous person than what Roger was. Roger seemed like an asshole, who needed a good kick in the head. The girl gave a brief nod.

"Ok, _Hood._ You should probably know who the other 6 orphans are." Ruvie began. The girl's eyes darted to her hands that were folded in her lap. "In this building, there is a system. The reason why you are here, is because you are surprisingly intelligent for somebody of your age."

'_I'm surprisingly intelligent? That sounds so forced.'_ The girl thought.

"Our system is of ranking. We rank the orphans from the most intelligent to the... uh, not as intelligent. Because you are new here, you will be ranked 6th, the lowest rank. If you feel you do not belong as 6th, you'll need to prove yourself worthy of moving up by studying and working hard. Anyway, back to the point. The six orphans; Alternative. He is ranked number one. Backup, he is ranked number two, Kay, she is ranked number three Xanthus, number four and Zero, number 5." He told her.

"I thought you said there were 6 others? What about that one? You told me I was going to be ranked 6th, and that it is also the lowest." The girl pointed out.

"I would have gotten to that if you hadn't interrupted me." Roger grumbled. "That 6th orphan? That is Lost one. We don't rank him. It's his fault that the rankings exist. He is smarter than every other orphan here." He explained.

'_Everyone here has a strange alias... Alternative? Backup? They sound like robots, like there only purpose is to replace someone, and by the sounds of it, this "Lost one" they were talking about. Does this mean I'm going to replace some smart nerd?'_

The girl already had the feeling that she was not going to like it here.

Watari stood up from his chair and stretched his legs. "I suppose I'll show her around, then." He suggested. Roger nodded and picked his book up.

The girl, newly named as the uncreative 'Hood', solely because she was wearing a hood the day she turned up, followed the older man up the stairs. On the second storey, there was a dark gloomy hallway. There was no light to illuminate the area. It was unclear to see what could be hiding at the end.

The girl was wary of entering and stood by the top of the stairs. She watched as Watari walked into the shadows, disappearing into the darkness.

Watari could not see a thing in the hallway but he knew the light switch was inconveniently placed right on the far wall. He flattened his palms and searched for the switch. Eventually, he found it and flicked the light on. The elderly man turned around and he could easily see the girl standing by the entrance.

"Your room is this one." Watari was still standing in the back of the hallway. He pointed to the door that was right beside him. The girl took a cautious step in the area. "Don't be afraid."

The girl sighed and continued her careful steps to her door.

**... ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... **

"I suppose you want to meet the other orphans?" Watari asked after 20 minutes of having a look around in the dark room. The girl turned around and looked at him.

"They won't like me." She whispered, refusing to even think about talking to anybody. All she wanted to do was to stay in her room all day.

"Nonsense. Come with me. They are playing outside. A and K shovelled the snow away this morning." He persuaded. The girl sighed. She had no choice but to go outside.

"Ok." She whispered. It seemed there was no reason to why she whispered, but she rarely ever spoke and for that reason her vocal cords weren't stretched enough. She was too used to whispering.

Watari smiled and led her out of the room, down the stairs, and to another set of heavy wooden doors. He easily pushed them open and the cold air sprayed inside the room. The girl could hear excited yelling. The girl was timid and did not want to leave the indoor safety. Watari grabbed her hand and led her out.

A boy and a girl were playing football together. They were yelling and tackling each other in the cold shaved ice below them. Right at the back of the area that was visible was two other orphans. One was hanging upside down on a tree branch and the other was sitting by the trunk. Watari knelt down so he could face the girl.

"I'll leave you here. I hardly need to point out who is who, I think you may prefer it if you find out for yourself." He told her before standing back up to leave.

Hood stood in the cold winds by herself. The two orphans playing football didn't notice her presence, even when she stood on the sidelines of the field they set up. It was as if she were a lingering ghost. But the girl did not mind. She preferred to be ignored.

Hood spotted a swing attached to a high up tree branch. Absolutely nobody was around there. The wind was pushing the swing back and forth. In fact, it looked kind of creepy, like a ghost was swinging on it. The girl wandered over to the bare swing, digging her cold, gloved hands into her pockets.

The swing was hung by coarse brown rope and the seat was a plank of wood. The entire contraption looked old, like it had been hanging there for a while. The girl pulled her hands out of her pockets and pulled her black wool gloves off her fingers. Her bare hands stroked the coarse material. Yes, it definitely was old. The girl sat herself on the seat. She kept her feet firmly on the ground to prevent it from swinging too much.

**... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

After what seemed like almost an hour, Hood felt a presence before her. She sat her feet firmly on the ground again. Two black and white converse all-stars shoes were planted on the ground in front of her boots. The girl lifted her head to find out why this orphan was annoying enough to come up to see who the new kid was.

It was a boy with black, ebony hair, and pale, ashen skin. His eyes were rimmed with makeup as dark as charcoal. But his makeup wasn't the thing that had caught her eyes. It was his eyes. His pupils were red! Like, _blood_ red!

Hood immediately felt uncomfortable in this boys presence. Her grip tightened on the ropes and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Something was not right about this boy.

The boy with eyes as red as blood was frowning. He looked annoyed.

"Oi, that's _my _swing you're sitting on, bitch." He argued. Hood guessed he was at least 12 or 13 years old. The girl quickly stood.

"I'm sorry." She strained her voice so it was just above a whisper.

"I don't wanna sit on that! Your ass touched it!" He complained. Hood felt her fists and teeth clench.

"Well why don't you make that ugly face of yours useful and mop it!" She snapped. The older boy raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, touchy touchy!" He teased. This boy was a worthless brat.

"Anyway, I don't see a name on it." She added. The boy pushed her to the side and sat on the swing. Hood fell onto the cold grass. The boy smirked.

"I don't need to put my name on it. Everybody already knows its mine. Nobody _intelligent_ will go near it because they are afraid of me! KYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed. His laugh made the sweat drop off the girls face and made fear well in the pit of her stomach.

.-.-.

"Oi, look!" Alternative quickly grabbed Kay's shoulder and turned her around. "Looks like Backup has finally made a friend." He laughed. Kay smirked.

"Or that girl sat on his swing and is now in trouble!" The girl guessed, positioning the ball over her feet, aiming to kick it at the two. "Oi, do ya think I'd be able to hit her in the head?" She asked with a giggle.

"You could try, but it's a damn fair distance!" A replied with a grin.

Kay took a few steps back, before running ahead. She dropped the ball and her leg shot out, hitting the football perfectly at the point. They watched as the ball flew in their direction.

-.-.-.-

As Hood and Backup argued over the swing, a large, red, oval shaped ball flew at her. Hood quickly shot her arms up to protect her head, lucky she did otherwise she may have suffered a broken nose. The ball hit her forearms, leaving a large purple bruise.

"Kekekeke... Take that as an omen to stay away from my swing." The teen spat. His laugh honestly made it sound as if he were choking on his own tonsils. The girl shot him a dirty look and picked up the ball by her boots. She automatically looked at A and K.

Alternative and Kay were standing around, watching them like idiots. Hood was glaring at the two. She could have had the upper hand in the argument if those two others hadn't kicked the ball at her.

**Woo! First chapter! :D Now, I think this story was just an experiment. The purpose for writing this was just to see if anybody would take an interest. Now, I want to know if you liked it! **

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! :D :D :D**


	2. Lost

**So, I got quite a few reviews for the first chapter –thanks- so I thought that I'd update. I have not much a clue where this story may be going, but it's only the second chapter. If I decide to continue, I would have probably given much more thought to it, although I am not saying I haven't been thinking about it.**

**Oh yeah and I had no idea of what A, X and Z looked like so I made up their features from my own imagination!**

**Disclaimer: I still own BB! He and L sleep in my bedroom! XD**

_Chapter 2: _

Dinner time, a time to satisfy your day-long hunger that you had not ever noticed its growth of.

Alternative and Kay were especially hungry. They were wolfing down bowls of soup and plates of meat. Xanthus and Zero ate together, chatting to each other as if nobody else existed. And Backup sat by himself, barely eating. Hood also sat by herself, although she was told by Roger that she should probably sit with somebody. She refused and sat in the corner to eat, although she did not touch the food on her plate. Every time she made a movement, she could feel eyes boring into her. She felt too uncomfortable to even twitch. The girl looked away from her full plate. Yes. People were staring at her, only because she was new. New children were always interesting, and the older ones always wanted to know what they were hiding, well, at least until somebody else comes along.

"What are you called?" Somebody asked her. The boy was recognised as Alternative. He had dark brown hair that looked like he had tried to spike it up earlier, but the gel he used wasn't very strong. His skin wasn't exactly pale but it definitely was not tanned.

"Do you mean my name?" The girl asked. Everybody's voices had either muted, or Hood could not hear them anymore. Hood chose the latter. As if anybody would quieten to hear what she had to say.

"No, idiot. Not your name, what did Ruvie call you when he met you?" Kay cut in, she sounded rather annoyed.

"Mr. Ruvie said my new name was _Hood."_ She scrunched her nose up at the word. She didn't exactly want to get called 'hood'. A hood was something that was attached to your jacket to cover your head, not a _name!_ Alternative snorted.

"How formal, _Hood!"_ A laughed. B groaned, he obviously did not find that funny. Kay had a little giggle and X and Z barely noticed he said anything. "Most of the kids just call him Roger." He explained. Hood said nothing in return.

"Children, its getting rather late." An elderly man exclaimed as he wandered into the room. The elderly man was Watari. He was tapping on the face of his pocket watch which was attached to a chain inside his jacket.

A groaned simultaneously with K. B had already dropped his eating utensils and had wandered out of the room with silence. X and Z looked away from each other for a moment to hear what Watari had to say. The elderly man placed the watch back inside his inner pocket.

"It is approximately 8:30 PM. You all had a late dinner tonight. That will not be happening again. Curfew _is_ supposed to be now, so finish your dinners and head to your rooms. Remember, lights out at 9." He told everyone. He turned his head to Hood as he pulled up a chair beside her. "How are you liking it here?" He asked only loud enough for her to hear.

Hood just mumbled. "It's ok. The kids aren't very nice, but I'm fine." The girl told him. Watari nodded with a tiny smile.

"I'm sure they'll warm up to you." He promised and got up to leave.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Hood dug her hands deep into the pockets of her jacket as she walked by herself through the well lit rooms, looking for hers in particular. All of the other kids had already ran back, so unfortunately she could not follow because she was not one of those kids who could run without getting bored or feeling too lazy to continue in the end. Hood was also not one of those people who liked to ask for too much help. She never wanted to sound needy or whiny. She hated that.

Yes. The girl was lost. She had no idea where she was going. She was just wandering aimlessly around the ground floor of the mansion. She had come across a few stair cases but she refused to walk up them by herself. Who knows what could be up there.

She continued to wander around for what seemed like half an hour, when she found herself in front of Roger's office. She had a choice, she could knock on his door and ask him how to get to her room, or she could continue to wander around and find her own way.

She stood in front of the door for a minute before she lifted her fist to gently knock. Before she could continue on with this action, the door opened.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" An annoyed male voice recognised as Rogers asked. The girl lifted her head. He was frowning. "It's 9:30, you should have been in your room an hour ago." The girl felt like an idiot.

"I was just about to knock on your door and ask you..." She trailed off, her eyes slid past Roger and into his office. The girl noticed two other people inside. One was who she thought was Watari and another. The other, she thought may have been Backup. He had untidy black hair that would have hung below his shoulders if it weren't spiked at the back. The only difference she could tell was with his shirt- it was white.

"Ask what?"

"If you could show me where my room is." She muttered. The person with the white shirt turned around. The girl figured out this definitely was not Backup. This person was much more paler than the other and his eyes were so dark they were almost black. The girl only got a glance of the other boy before she turned her attention back to Roger.

"You should have remembered where it is." Roger spoke bitterly. Kids really did annoy him. The man turned around as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll take her to her room on the way to mine." The boy offered. Roger looked like he was thinking for a second. The teenage boy had a blank expression on his face and Hood was staring at the two of them.

"Are you sure?" Ruvie asked. The teenager nodded.

"I was just about to head there myself." He told him.

"Fine."

Hood watched as the taller teenage boy dug his hands deeply in his pockets and wandered out of the room with a slouch. Roger tightly closed the door behind him. His eyes were a very dark grey and he had dark rims around his eyes that faded into purple. Unlike Backup, this was not makeup.

'_Could this be the 6__th__ orphan?'_ The girl thought with curiosity, keeping a critical eye on him. The teenage boy was just staring ahead. He knew the girl was watching him, trying to figure out whether she was safe with him or not.

"I take it you are Hood?" He asked. He sounded bored and very tired. Hood did not dare remove her eyes from him.

"Yes." She answered. She had suddenly noticed how much more she had been speaking on this day, which was surprising taking on account of the fact that she never spoke. "I take it you are the 6th orphan, 'Lost One'?"

"Mmhmm." He mumbled. "The oldest and smartest." Hood could tell he was the oldest, because all of the other orphans weren't as tall and weren't as mature as this one seemed.

"How old are you?" She asked.

"My age is of unimportance. How old are you?" He brushed off. Hood narrowed her eyes.

"You expect me to answer my own question when you won't answer it yourself?" She growled.

"Yes." His voice was louder than that of a mumble but it was still fairly quiet thanks to his usual monotone. The girl growled at him again.

The two walked together in silence. L led her up a set of stairs right at the back of the ground level. The girl did not feel safe walking up these steps into the hallway where her room was located. She grabbed onto the railings as she stood step after step, following the older teenage boy in front of her.

L led her into the familiar hallway which Watari had showed her earlier. This time the lights were on, so the corridor was no longer pitch black. She could see clearly inside the area and could easily see her door at the back. She turned back to L. He was already gone so she didn't have to thank him. She hadn't even heard him leave.

The girl slowly wandered over to her door and opened it. The room was dark and very, very cold. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand and her skin begin to grow goose bumps. She felt around the wall to find the light switch, but could not find it. She eventually gave up and took a deep breath before walking in. A cold gust of wind blew from the window and the girl jumped as the door slammed behind her. It didn't take too long for her eyes to grow accustomed to the dark.

She could see a bed in the middle of the room with her case on the end of it. She could not remember even bringing it in there when she first saw the room. There was a chest of drawers on one side of the room and on the opposite side was a large window, the blinds were tightly drawn shut.

She carefully felt around the walls to lead herself to the bed. She reached the bedside table. She let the tips of her fingers trace the smooth wood underneath until she found the bed and collapsed on it.

.-.-.-.

L opened up his bedroom door. He never cared for flicking the lights on, he doubted that anybody would ever try to break into his room. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and closed the door behind him. He could still see quite clearly in the room, his curtains had been left open and the moonlight had always shined in his room.

"Hello, L." L felt his heart stop.

"Whoever you are, you shouldn't be in here." L informed the intruder in his room.

"Kekekeke..." The intruder laughed. L would have been able to recognise that laugh easily, from anywhere. "Oh L, it's only me."

"Backup? What are you doing in here?" L demanded.

"Don't call me 'Backup'!" L felt a force push him to the floor. He yelped in pain as the younger male sat on his chest and held his windpipe. L quickly grabbed B's arms by his elbows.

The moonlight shined into his eyes, making it seem as if his red pupils were glowing. The black makeup under his eyes made them even more prominent. The shadow occupied most of his face but left his grin, which was showing his unnaturally white teeth and ghost like skin.

Backup chortled a laugh, which was coming out as a dark snigger. "Look at you, L. You look so pathetic under me." He sneered, licking his around his mouth. He leant closer, so his lips were at his ear. "I'm quite enjoying watching you so powerless." He whispered. L knocked B's arms over him, pressing down on his shoulders and the younger teen fell, landing on top of the older teen. L rolled on top of him and pressed his hands to the carpet.

"Now who's the powerless one?" He growled. BB smirked.

"Still you, L." He told him, as his head lifted as far as it could.

He head butted him in the forehead. L groaned as he felt a headache begin to form, but he did not remove his grip from Backup's hands. B lifted his head up again and head butted him again. L began to feel dizzy. B knew how L was feeling at the moment so he decided that one more head butt would give him the upper hand. L fell back on the floor and stared up at the ceiling. B leant over and came back into his line of vision. He was grinning again. He leant forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"You are weak." The red eyed boy smirked. L felt his eyelids drop and everything went darker.

Soon, L opened his eyes again. The first thing he noticed was how much his mind was aching. His brain was throbbing. L wasn't sure if he had imagined B in his room or if he really was in there. He sat up, running his hand through his hair. The room was very quiet. The teen climbed to his feet. As he had done this, he swaggered a bit before gaining his balance. He walked towards his door and turned the knob. It was locked from the inside. _'Does this mean that I only imagined him in here? It felt too real... I couldn't have imagined it!'_ He wondered.

**There we go, second chapter! Did L just imagine BB in his room? If no, how could he exit the room and lock it from the inside?**


	3. Creepy Crawlies

**3****rd**** chapter ever! XD ... That sounded a little bit sad... meh! I got plenty of reviews for the last chapter, glad you liked it! XD**

**Disclaiming Disclaimer: Why should I bother doing this? I **_**already**_** own BB and L! XD**

**...**

_Chapter 3: Creepy Crawlies_

Hood found it extremely hard to sleep that night. Every now and then, she felt a chill run down her spine, despite the fact that she was wrapped in at least four blankets. She rolled over and closed her eyes. It'd been quite a long day for her, and she needed to rest.

_/Thud. Thud. Thud./ _It sounded like something was hitting against a wall. _/Thud. Thud. Thud./_

All Hood could hear was thudding. She wasn't sure if it was because of her memory or if her mind was playing tricks on her, or if somebody was hitting the wall on the other side.

She closed her eyes tighter. _/Thud. Thud. Thud./ _This noise was going to drive her mad. She could imagine a desk being pushed back and forth against the chipping plaster of the wall in her imagination.

Suddenly, it went quite. She could hear her heartbeat drumming gently in her ears, but she could feel her mind throbbing in rhythm of the former thud noises.

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

She groaned as she could hear them again. She peeked out from under her covers and noticed that her blinds had been opened in the slightest. She could easily recall them being drawn tightly before she crawled under her covers. She didn't want to get up, but she realised the thudding seemed to have been coming from the very direction of her window- it needed to be closed.

Hood threw her covers back, ignoring how her hair was standing on end and the goosebumps that had began to grow, and slowly leant her foot over to touch the floorboards beneath her. The floorboards were even colder than the air. She felt herself begin to chatter her teeth, but she bit her tongue to stop the useless and annoying noise from ever erupting in the silence amidst her.

She carefully walked over towards the window. _Thud. Thud. Thud- _the noise was growing louder, giving her the beginnings of a migraine. Hood threw each curtain back.

"There's my problem." She muttered. The window was opened, but the strange thing was- How could it be opened and closing? It was the type of window that you needed to slide sideways to open. The panel that opened was above two other large pieces of glass that touched the floor. Wammy probably did this so no orphan would find it easy to climb out of for a little nightly stroll.

The girl poked her head through the opened window, seeing how there was no fly screen to stop her.

The sky was dark blue. No stars were seen. Hood looked around the outer side of the building she was in. It looked like everybody had closed their blinds pretty tightly- she couldn't see in. She wasn't trying to be a pervert, though. If a window was opened and you could see right into that room from yours, would _you_ stop yourself from looking?

As she continued to stare out into the night and around the building, she noticed that one window did not have its blinds closed. She didn't think much of it. She just continued to stare in the darkness, not having a clue of the time. She had her hands holding the frame of the panel while her body leant on the cool glass inside her room.

Cool wind blew her long hair around her face making it messier than what it already was. After a moment, she realised the wind still had not left her. It blew gently, caressing her skin. She could feel something on her hand, crawling on her arm. She assumed it was just her imagination, but even after the breeze ceased, the feeling on her arm had not left.

Her eyes fell upon her hand. She watched with wide eyes as a large, black spider was crawling on her. She bit her lip. One of her biggest fears were spiders- it was a pretty average fear, a lot of people had arachnophobia, but she always thought she was more afraid of them than anybody.

The spider wandered over her grey woollen jumper that she had failed to take off before she went to bed. Hood swallowed and winced as her other, shaky hand hovered over the creature on her sleeve. She could feel herself sweat. She couldn't believe she was about to do this. She bit her lip as she tried to flick it off. She missed. It seemed the spider realised that it was about to get thrown two storeys down, so it began to run up to her shoulder. Hood's nervous hand followed it and with a quick flex she brushed it off.

She sighed weakly and closed the window tightly before shutting the curtains. She turned back around. Her room was black. She couldn't see a thing. She hoped that there would be no more spiders. She climbed back into bed after a minute of walking like a zombie, feeling for objects in front of her. She crawled under her covers into a ball.

Suddenly, she felt something itchy on her foot. She tried to ignore it, but it seemed that the itch moved. Hood opened her eyes widely.

"Please. Not another spider!" She begged, her voice was quivering out of fear. She was too afraid to throw back her covers to see what it was that was actually on her leg. She made a nervous gasp as she felt another itch on her face- one that moved, and another one- and another one.

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath as she threw her covers off her body. Hundreds of spiders caked the insides of her sheets, crawling all over her legs and body. Her breathing became heavy and ragged as she tried to suppress a scream. Her jaw dropped and she whimpered, she was just about to give in and let out a scream, but immediately, many spiders began to run inside her mouth and down her throat, chortling and choking voice. She tried as hard as she could to scream as loud as humanly possible. She couldn't stop her shaking, or the tears that had began to stream down her face.

.-.-.

L had sat up from his bed as he heard bloodcurdling screaming from down the hallway. He hadn't been asleep, or had even been under his covers. He had been lying on his bed for hours. He climbed out of bed and opened up his door. The screaming was louder and it had not ceased. He could tell that the screams were coming from right at the end of the corridor. He made no noise as he walked across the floorboards quickly and opened up the door.

Before his eyes was a girl about ten years old. She was sitting propped up in her bed- as stiff as a board- screaming hysterically. L ran to her side.

"Spiders!" She was screaming. "Spiders everywhere!" She sobbed. "All over me!"

L did a quick scan over her body; there was absolutely no spiders anywhere to be seen.

"There's no spiders here! They don't live in this country! It's too cold for them!" L tried to yell over her screaming.

"Help me! There's spiders everywhere!" She cried. "Please get them off me!" L didn't know what to do. There were no spiders anywhere, yet she was crying and freaking out about it.

Suddenly, the lights flicked on. L turned his head in the direction where the light switch was located. There stood Backup.

"What's going on?" He said. L turned back to Hood. She was very shaken and she was breathing heavily.

As the yellow light poured in the room, it seemed that the spiders had disappeared into thin air. Hood could not see them or feel them anymore. She whimpered and began to sob. She didn't care that two boys were in her room, watching her. L patted her on the back awkwardly as she curled herself into a ball.

"Why was she screaming?" B asked uncaringly. L turned to him.

"She thought that there were spiders crawling all over her." He answered.

"But we are in the wrong climate for them. It's too cold in England for them to survive."

"Yes, I know." L's attention turned to the girl quietly sobbing to herself in her hands.

"What's going on in here!" Roger boomed as he walked inside the room, noting that L and Backup were already in there. L moved away from the bed to let Roger in.

"She thought that there were spiders all over her." L told him.

"Spiders?" Roger shook her shoulder to try and grab her attention. The girl remained in a tight ball.

Backup pressed his back against the wall and watched as the old man tried to get her attention but failing as she continued to cry. L joined the younger teen by the wall.

"I bet you came running." The younger teen smirked. L dug his hands in his pockets.

"No, I just wanted to see what was going on." He answered.

"Sure." B kept his eyes on the older teen.

"... Where you in my room earlier tonight?" L asked.

"You know I was." B grinned. "How's your head?"

"Fine." He answered briefly. "Backup, you -?" L cut off his sentence.

Backup smirked. "Yes, L?." He suddenly frowned. "And didn't I already tell you, _don't. Call. Me. Backup." _B snapped. L narrowed his eyes, but decided to say nothing.

"I'll talk to you about it _outside_ of this room." L informed him. B grinned. It wasn't exactly a friendly type. L just rolled his eyes and left the room. Backup followed him.

-.-.-

The two stood out in the cool hallway. Backup closed the door behind him.

"Ok. How did you lock the door of my room after you left?"

"Who said I left?"

"..."

"Geez L, I thought you would have looked at all angles on this." Backup smirked, and headed to his room.

**I didn't really like this chapter that much. I wanted to write this in a scary way, but I couldn't. I suck at writing horror... Meh, this story could be a practise. Oh yeah, there **_**may**_** be some slight yaoi themes in this story and lots of horror themes! :D**


	4. Reflection

**Hello, there! I bring you yet another chapter! XD Last chapter was pretty freaky! Yuck, spiders! But I don't think it was scary enough! DX I think I might need to use much more descriptive types of words! ... SPIDERs! Did I scare you? No? Didn't think so.**

**Disclaimer: Beyond and Lawliet live in my bedroom. They also both live in my bed. I am forced to sleep on the floor! DX**

_Chapter 4:_

Hood hadn't slept at all that night. Roger had to stay in her room to keep her company. She was too afraid to be by herself in that room. She was worried that more spiders were going to run from the shadows and cover her again.

Hood was curled into a ball under her sheets, while Roger sat on the arm chair in one of the corners. He was half asleep. His head was thrown back and his eyes were closed, but he was not slumbering; mainly because the light in the room was still turned on

.-.-.

Backup closed his door and locked it. His room was the same as everyone else's. He had a large single mattress in the middle of the room, a chest of drawers in one corner, a desk in another, a wardrobe to the side, and a large window staring over his bed.

B pulled off his shirt and threw it to the floor. His room wasn't very well lit- he only had the moonlight to see everything, but he still could see just fine.

He traced each scar on his chest gently. Some were long and thick, once being deep wounds, and others were thin- being shallow cuts. Most of these scars were caused from his past, but a lot of them were fairly new.

He quietly crept across the wooden floorboards towards his desk. Each step was silent and careful- he tried not to make any noise at all. His bare foot landed in front of him- heel first, before his next foot did the same. He cringed as a low, whiny noise erupted from the wooden planks below him. He bent on his knees and dug his fingers between the boards to lift up the one that creaked. He ignored as the wood around the one in target scraped his fingers. He lifted up the one floor board completely as it wasn't nailed down. Underneath that floorboard was more wood. B scratched at it until his fingers could uneasily slide under the large plank. He cringed as he lifted his fingers back up with the piece of wood. The floorboards around his hands were cutting into his flesh. B dropped the wood behind him and peered into the hole.

Inside, there was newspaper. It was hard to see what else could have been down there because it was far too dark. He reached his hand in and lifted out a mass of old papers. He threw them to the side, not even interested in reading the titles or the dates of them to see how old they were. He reached in further and let his hand feel around in the cold hole he had made until his fingers stumbled upon something of interest. B felt a chill run down his spine as he felt what he was touching.

The object was obviously heavy. It felt like it was encased in old leather. He could feel small tears and rips in the material as the tips of his fingers caressed over it. He lifted it up; it wasn't light. After he pulled out the mysterious object he grinned.

The leather case was definitely old. Engraved in gold were letters, but B could not see them on account of minimal light in the room. His damaged fingers slid under the cover and grasped something cool and hard. He slowly pulled out a small metal object that fitted almost too perfectly in its case.

The object was sleek; it shone in the small amount of moonlight reflected in the room. It wasn't exactly _that_ light weight, but it wasn't very heavy, either. The ends were curved gracefully and the panels were smooth. B flicked his wrist and a small silver blade slid out of its barriers.

B left the mess on his floor and drifted happily to his bed. He collapsed comfortably upon it. The moon light was reflecting off the blade. Despite it being a dangerous weapon, it was kind of beautiful as the blue light shimmered on the silver.

B's finger traced over the sharp point of the blade. He pressed the tip of his finger into it and watched as a small drop of dark coloured blood slid down the flat side. He moved the knife closer to his mouth and let his tongue wipe up his blood that travelled down the silver.

He continued to stare at the glossy blade until he heard a knock at the door. He growled and climbed off the bed. He quickly slid the object into his waist band. He shuddered because the coolness of it was pressed against his groin. He walked towards the door, pressing down on the denim of his jeans that covered the knife so it would not fall out. He felt it tap against him at each step he took. It felt mildly uncomfortable.

He didn't care if the person in front of the door saw that he had left the wooden floorboard out of its place. He was only going to slam the door in this orphans face, anyway.

He twisted the knob without word after the other person knocked on the door again. He opened the door, only to see A; ranked number one at Wammy's. Now why would A be visiting B at this time of night?

.-.-.-

Hood slightly opened her eyes. Loud snores were surrounding her. She sat up and saw that Roger had his head thrown back on his chair and his body was limp. Hood carefully reached one hand over to him. She pressed two of her fingers against his neck, feeling his pulse. The beats of his heart were slow. It obviously meant that he was in a very deep sleep.

The girl didn't think that she'd be able to sleep very easily in her new room. She slid off her bed, pulling one of her blankets with her. She tiptoed towards the half closed door, looking back at Roger to see if he had moved any- which he hadn't. She crept out into the cool hallway. It was even darker than what her bedroom was without its lights. She sat on the ground, wrapping the blanket around her body and her head fell in between her knees. She didn't care that it was deathly cold in the hallway, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

.-.-.

"B-Backup?" A asked, his voice slightly trembling as he watched him flick his knife in and out of its sheath. Backup's eyes trailed up and caught A's. He smirked devilishly. "Backup? What are you planning?" A whispered softly as he felt fear grow into his every pore.

"I don't know. We could play a game..." B flicked the knife back out again and held the blade up until it caught the moonlight. It reflected onto A's shoulder.

"What kind of game?" Alternative managed to steady his voice. B glanced at the white spot of light on his shirt and smirked.

"Wherever the light shines, this blade will slice."

A felt his eyes widen. He knew that the light was shining off his blade onto him. _'Shit! He's going to fucking stab me! I have to get lost!' _ A felt his body tense as B took a step closer to him.

"Looks like it was your shoulder." His voice was so smooth. A didn't want to be, but he was frozen to the spot. B stepped into A's personal space and tugged at the hem of the boy's shirt until he pulled it over his short brown hair. B discarded it to the floor. A's frame was not all lanky but it was not exactly muscled either, despite the fact of how many sports that he played with K.

B traced the knife down the other teens throat. A felt the hair on the back of his neck stand and butterflies begin to grow in his stomach; he felt nauseous. He swallowed as the tip of the blade traced around the curves of his neck.

"You may think that I'm going to slice your throat, but honestly, I'm not. I'm going to follow the rules and cut your shoulder." As soon as he had uttered these words, he made a sharp jerk of his elbow and sliced the skin of the other boys shoulder. A uttered a cry at the pain. He winced and held the wound under his hand as it began to bleed.

B stepped away from the light of the moon so it could overtake his reddened blade. He looked to see where the spot of light had landed. A was on his knees on the wooden floorboards. The spot of light was touching the side of his neck. _'That's not going to be any fun.' _Backup thought, pouting.

"Well, A. The light seems to have landed on your soft, sweet throat." B began. A choked as B had spoken. "You know what that means." B began to stalk towards the teen on the floor. A felt his eyes sting with newly bound tears which under any circumstances he would not ever let out. His body tensed as Backup stepped and sat beside him. He closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth as he felt the edge of the cool blade pressed against where B promised to slice. He slowly swiped the knife across, cutting only a thin layer of the teens skin. Gradually, as the knife ended its travelling, the it dug deeper. As it only just began to bleed, B removed the knife. "But doing that so soon would be of no fun." A sounded relief, but it was not enough to destroy his growing fear of what was going to happen next.

B moved closer until his and A's faces were only centimetres apart. The brunette instinctively edged backwards until he felt something being pushed into his chest. Backup was handing him the knife in the most uncomfortable of positions. With one, nervous hand, the one that wasn't attached to the aching shoulder, grabbed hold of the object, which B's hand was still wrapped around. He tried to push it away as he could feel the tip of it begin to pierce his chest. B overpowered him once he realised what A was trying to do.

"Backup!" A winced as the blade was slowly driven further into his chest.

"It's your turn." B hissed as he pulled his hand away from his knife. By doing this, A's hand was also pulled away. The knife fell and landed on the small amount of floor in between them. The weapon clattered against the wooden floorboards once again. A carefully picked the sharp knife from the floor, keeping his eye on B for any movement. He did not even twitch.

"What do I do?" He whispered nervously. B gripped A's hand which was holding onto his knife. He brought the weapon closer to his face. A's hand was shaking, making the blade shake with him. B tightened his grip on A's hand as he brought the weapon closer to his mouth. A watched with wide eyes as B began to clean the blood covered knife with his tongue. The edge of his blade nicked the tender flesh of his lip. A dark red line of blood travelled down his chin. A was staring at B in horror as he seemed to have relished in the coppery, thick liquid that had seeped out of his neck and shoulder.

B took A by surprise as he pulled him into the very few millimetres left of space that they had between each other, smashing their opened mouths together. A tried to push B away, but the other teen was much stronger than him and kept him in place. After a few seconds, A realised what B was trying to do. Apparently his tongue was bleeding. All he was trying to do, strange as it was, exchange blood with him. A slowly but gradually began to relax. B weaved his fingers into A's hair and pulled them apart. They both breathed heavily- B was much calmer than A. A was flush and B was still as deathly pale as he normally was.

"B?" He breathed. A felt so confused inside. One part of him sensed danger and wanted to run and the other wanted to stay with Backup.

B began to gently brush his fingers through the very short brown hair of A's. As he did this, he stared not at him, but above his head. A parted his lips to say something, but decided against it.

'_It seems A has a rather short life span...' _Beyond began to think. _'It looks like he may have a possible one or two years left in him.'_

Most of A rejected this action, but a small part of him wanted it. He leant forward and gently pecked B on the lips. B was alerted. He quickly grabbed his knife and pulled back A's head, exposing his neck. B held his knife to it.

"I'm sorry, B!" He apologised quickly, feeling beads of sweat begin to form all over his skin. B made no move but continued to glare at the teen in his grasp. "Please don't kill me." He begged almost silently. B leant forward.

"I'm not going to. It's not your time to die." He whispered. His voice was deathly and held promise to it. '_And besides that, there'd be far too much evidence it was me.' _ A gulped and B eventually let go of him.

Again, A was frozen to the spot. Beyond flicked his knife back inside of its handle.

"Why haven't you run away from me, yet?"

It was then, A tried to unfreeze himself from his spot. He slowly got up; his legs felt like thick, heavy pieces of lead underneath his body. Beyond watched as A tried to steady himself and find his shirt.

"Backup?" He began, picking up his piece of clothing off the floor.

"Yes?"

"I'm not afraid of you." He stated bravely.

"Really?" Beyond mused, tilting his head with a growing grin.

"I'm not."

"You should be." He laughed darkly. A felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. His laugh could make anybody feel uncomfortable- scared even. It was deep pitched, loud and rough.

A closed the door behind him and looked around the pitch black hallway. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a large shape. If he were in any other situation, he would have been curious enough to stand around and stare at it, trying to figure out exactly what is was but tonight he didn't.

Hood turned her head and noticed a tall, dark shape standing in the hallway. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand. _'Who is it? Is it looking at me?'_ She worried. She dipped her head back under her covers. She could hear quiet footsteps wander in the hallway, and soon a door opening and closing. She felt a cool breeze creep under her blanket. Hood shivered and curled into a tighter ball to stay warm.

_/Thump. Thump. Thump./_

She lifted her head out of her covers to see if anybody else was out. Hood looked around, but could see no other foreign shape. Maybe it was just her imagination. She sat out in the cold hallway for a few more minutes, before she decided to retreat to her bedroom into the warmth and depths of her bed. She tried to forget the incident with the spiders. She kept telling herself that there were none under her covers.

She stood, carrying the blankets with her. The hallway she was in was so dark that she could not see a doorway, but thankfully she was sitting right besides hers. She reached her hand out and felt the walls behind her, looking for the doorframe. She found it with ease. She gripped the doorknob and carefully opened it. Hood peeked her head in first, before opening the door all the way. The hinges squeaked loudly, but thankfully Rogers snoring had not ceased in any way. She stepped one foot in trying to ignore the creaking of the floorboards below her.

Unfortunately for her, she could not sneak back in quietly but thankfully, Roger had not awoken from his slumber. Hood crept right up to her bed, which was barely seen. She layed down on the mattress and pulled all of her blankets above her. All was silent in the room except for Rogers loud breathing and snores.

_/Thump. Thump. Thump./_

The girls eyes opened widely.

**Yayy! Well, I think this chapter may be a slight improvement but nothing scary happened... Except for Beyond's psychopathic activities! XD**


	5. Questions

**Woo! Another chapter of fun, scary Beyond! XD ... ... ... ... It's not really a scary story, is it... Damn... Meh, I'll try harder to scare you guys... But, the horror will start soon! :D**

**Oh yeah, when K mentions the temperature of the night before, I'm talking about Celsius, not Fahrenheit.**

**Disclaimer: I own BEYOND and LAWLIET! They are mind forever! :D**

_Chapter 5:_

The next morning, Kay knocked on A's door. He had not come out, even after 9, when classes started. During the break, she wandered over to see why.

She knocked on his door. No answer. She knocked again, still receiving no answer. She sighed and opened up the door.

The curtains were drawn pretty tightly, cutting out any light that could have entered and decreased his melatonin levels. Piled on the floors were many text books, papers and clothes. There was one shirt that was discarded on his bed. Its whole left side was covered in blood. She picked it up and studied it.

"A... What happened?" She whispered. Just as she had spoken these words, the entrance door opened.

"K? What are you doing in here?" It was A. Kay quickly turned around, his bloodied shirt tight in her grasp.

He was wearing a pair of blue jeans which hung lowly on his hips, his hair was wet and he was holding a towel. he had a long scratch over his neck which seemed to deepen as it reached the other side and a large slash on his left shoulder. K felt her cheeks heat up for mostly embarrassment of being caught in his room.

"A, why is your shirt covered in blood?" She asked him, coming closer and grabbing his cut shoulder. "What did you do to get this?"

A pulled his shoulder away from her clutches. "Nothing. I was just climbing a tree last night and fell, that's all." He lied, walking past her to his bed. K's gaze followed him. The boy dumped his towel on the bed and headed over to his set of drawers in the corner.

"Why were you climbing a tree in the middle of the night?" She demanded. "You know how cold it was! It was bloody snowing last night! It was minus 3 degrees!"

"Yeah, I know." He said, opening up his bottom drawer and pulling out a black leather belt.

"And don't you get colds really easy?"

"Not really, on account of all the sports I play with you." He mumbled, sliding the belt underneath the straps of his jeans.

"You get them easier than any other sporty person!" She growled. She knew A was hiding something from her, but what was it?

"Yeah, well maybe I just got lucky." He replied, opening up another drawer, looking for a clean shirt.

"I don't know, A. I had to wrap myself in many blankets to stay warm, last night. It was freezing. I don't think you'd have been _that_ lucky."

"Well, maybe I was."

K groaned in frustration. "Alternative, your lying to me. Why won't you just tell me what happened to your shoulder?"

"Because there's nothing to tell."

K clenched her fists. "It looks too clean cut to be a tree wound." She pointed out.

While A's head was in the drawer, his eyes widened. _'Why did she have to notice that?'_ He thought, closing his eyes out of annoyance.

"It's a knife wound! A, what have you gotten yourself into?"

A lifted himself out of his cupboard and glared at her. "Will you just leave me the fuck alone?" He yelled. K was cut off on all words. She stared in silence at him for a moment, before gritting her teeth.

"_Well_, A! _I'm sorry I care about you and your well being!" _

"You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine and can take care of myself." He sighed.

"If you can take care of yourself, then why do you have a gash on your shoulder? Why won't you tell me?"

A sighed again pulling on his shirt, covering up the wound on his shoulder. He walked towards her and grabbed her shoulders, looking her dead in the eyes. "Nothing bad happened last night, Kay. Everything was fine. You don't need to worry about anything, ok?"

"If nothing bad happened, then why won't you tell me what happened to your shoulder? I've known you since we were seven and eight. We've never kept anything from each other, why start now?"

'_She just won't leave... She keeps asking me so many questions about what happened last night! Why doesn't she just get the message that I don't want her to know? I just... want her safe from Backup!'_ He thought. "You say we haven't kept anything from each other? Kay, don't lie. We _have_ kept things from each other before. Don't give me that_ 'don't start now' _shit. Don't think I haven't noticed the way you look at me when you think I don't know you are."

K felt her cheeks heat up. "_I haven't been looking at you."_ Her voice shook as she spoke from nervousness. A rolled his eyes.

"Well, whatever it is. Don't think that I haven't noticed."

K clenched her fists and turned around to leave. A groaned and closed the door behind her. _"Bye."_ He said to the wooden panels sarcastically.

-.-.-

"There's two spare seats, today. Alternative and Kay are away." The teacher pointed to two spare seats in between Backup and Xanthus. "You can sit in either one, I'm not expecting Kay to come back, but I know A may show up. He _is_ top of the orphanage, after all. Well, besides Lost one." The teacher smiled dotingly. "Anyway, you can sit in either spot."

Hood looked at Backup. He was very uninviting. He was frowning, with his eyes narrowed. His hands were clasped on the table and his knuckles were white from pressure. He was wearing a long sleeved black shirt with a black and grey striped hoody.

She turned her head to Xanthus. She was quietly talking to the boy next to her. Xanthus had white blonde hair that was left out and wavy. Her side bangs were plaited and clipped away from her face. On the bridge of her nose sat a pair of rectangular glasses. She was wearing a chocolate brown jacket which was opened halfway, revealing a thick, plain, white, long sleeved shirt underneath.

Hood chose the most sane person to sit next to. Xanthus. She wasn't expecting her to greet her, she was quite absorbed in the conversation she was having with the dark haired boy next to her.

"Hello there. You must be Hood. The new one, right?"

Hood was taken by surprise- she _actually_ looked away from who she assumed was Zero to say something to her when only the day before it seemed he was the only thing in the world.

"Uh- yes. I am _Hood."_ She still did not like that new name of hers. She didn't like the way it sat on her tongue the way it did.

"Awesome. I remember my first day here." She reminisced, suddenly lost in the past. "... Anyway, that's over now. It's your turn." She flicked some of her blonde hair off her shoulder. "How are you liking it here?" She asked.

This girl seemed rather chatty. Hood was not used to having a conversation this quickly, even if she had barely had a chance to speak.

"It's alright..." Hood trailed off, turning her head to Backup. She felt a chill run down her spine after doing so as he was staring right at her. His expression was blank- yet it was kind of creepy.

She wanted to say she felt confronted about how Backup treated her just because she sat on 'his' swing. She wanted to tell someone about how an eerie chill ran down her spine when she saw his ashen face. Hood sensed danger as she felt a knot of nervousness tie in her stomach.

"Don't pay attention to him." Xanthus grabbed the bottom of her jaw and turned her head back to her. She noted the annoyance that was already planted on her face. "He's not worth even being scared of." She smirked. Hood dangerously narrowed her eyes. _'I'm not _scared.' She hissed in her mind. Xanthus turned to the boy beside her. "This is Zero. Zero, Hood, Hood, Zero." She introduced.

They both made a half assed wave to each other.

"Zero and I have been friends since my first day." She told her. "He's not as talkative as I am, he's more of a listener." Zero made a sleazy grin. Xanthus rolled her eyes. "And he's just a _little_ perverted." She demonstrated 'little' with her thumb and forefinger, squeezing the air between the two appendages.

"Xanthus! Third warning today! Be quiet!" The teacher growled.

Xanthus humorously mimicked the teacher, pulling a face at her when she turned around. Hood smirked, suppressing a giggle unlike Zero who was supposedly quiet. He laughed out loud, earning a glare at all three from the teacher.

"ZERO!" She yelled. "Quieten yourself!" After she had yelled this, there was a knock at the door. She grumbled quietly to herself and went to answer it.

"Kay? Where is A?" She asked. A few peoples attention was perked up at the news. It was unlike A to skip class. Usually if he did, Kay did it with him. Nobody could see the brunette outside of the door as the teachers rather large ass was in the way.

"He's... Sick."

"Is he coming back to class anytime soon?" The teacher demanded.

"I don't know." Kay snapped out of annoyance. The teacher groaned and moved out of the way to let her in. Kay walked inside the class room and raised a brow as she saw that Hood was sitting in her seat. The only other seat in the room was next to Backup but she wasn't about to risk her life just for a seat.

"Miss, where can I sit? Hood is sitting where I normally do." She groaned.

"There's a seat next to Backup. It's quite obvious isn't it? It's right at the front of the room."

Kay grumbled. She really didn't trust Backup. Whenever she was near him, she also felt a knot of worry grow in her stomach. She walked behind the rows and pulled up the chair besides the teen. Backup's ruby eyes were fixed on her. The girl couldn't help but shudder. She hesitantly sat. She turned her head back to Backup. He must of had some sort of staring problem because he was still looking at her with glassy red eyes.

"That's A's seat." He said, keeping his voice low and monotonous. Underneath the table, Kay's hands were gripping the edges of the chair beneath her.

"I know. He's not here today." She knew A and B had somewhat of an understanding, but she never knew how A could last being around him without breaking a cold sweat. There was something definitely different about this teen.

"Is he afraid to get another knife wound?" He teased.

'_What? It was BACKUP who did that?... Why doesn't it surprise me?' _ "Excuse me?" She hissed.

"I said, you. Are. Sitting. In. A's. Seat."

Kay narrowed her eyes. "Backup. I meant what you said afterwards. Don't mess with me." She threatened, trying hard to ignore her warning signals inside her body telling her to shut up and turn around.

Backup snickered but didn't answer her. Kay edged her seat as far as possible from him, right until the point where she was almost leaning on Hood's shoulder.

Hood said nothing as Kay was pressing to her side and breathing down her neck. Hood, the blonde girl, grimaced at how uncomfortable this felt.

Kay was contemplating whether to ask Hood to swap seats or demand it. It's not that she didn't give a shit about who she was rude to, but she did not know Hood from the grey in her eyes to the brown of her boots. If anything, Hood could have been even scarier than Backup was!

Backup seemed to have lost interest in scaring K as she was too easy a target. She definitely was afraid of him and was not ashamed to show it. He leaned back on his chair and rested his hands behind his head. _'I wonder if Hood is easy to scare?'_ He thought.

-.-.-

It was getting dark. Classes had finished an hour ago and Hood (being sneaky) was sitting on '_Backup's_' swing. The other orphans had already descended back into their dorm rooms as soon as the light began to fade out of the sky.

The air was cool and was nipping at her skin. The ropes attached to the plank of wood used as a seat swayed back and forth from the wind. All was silent.

Hood sometimes liked to be by herself. The silence was bliss. She remained outdoors for what seemed like hours. Eventually, and unwillingly, she decided to go back to her room. She only hoped spiders would not crawl out of nowhere onto her body.

Before she lifted herself away from the swing, she heard a noise. Her ears perked up to listen.

Somebody was humming something. The voice was definitely male as it was deep and it echoed in the cool wind.

"_Hmmm.. Hmm.. Hm." _

The girl did not recognise the tune. She racked her brain to think of anything that may have had some similarities but there was none.

"_Hmm... Hmm..."_

She felt a small chill run up her spine; the voice sounded eerie and breathy. She knew that was the time to leave, so she descended from her seat and power walked towards the great doors of the Wammy orphanage. As quick as she was walking, she could still hear the creepy humming. She wasn't sure at the time if it was just her imagination playing tricks on her or if it really was somebody outside. Maybe it could have been the wind?

The girl had a constant chill run down her spine as she was walking. She could feel something drilling into her back, creating deep holes. The humming was embedding in her brain and it was all she could think about.

"_Haylee!"_ It was a quick and almost silent whisper, but it was enough for the girl to stop walking. Shaking, she turned around.

The wind had stopped yet the swing was slowly rocking back and forth. Nothing had seemed to stir. The blonde shook her head and turned back around. _"Just my imagination."_ She whispered vehemently.

She walked back quickly, not even hearing the slightest of noises. She tried to convince herself that her mind was just playing tricks on her. She turned back around again for one last inspection. Trying to convince herself had not worked. Absolutely nothing seemed out of place. Her stomach felt like it was twisting in knots and she felt her heart beat rapidly against her chest. She briskly turned around again and chortled a scream as somebody had grabbed her.

"Hood?" It was a worried, yet monotonous voice. She broke away from the hands holding her shoulders. Breathing heavily, the girl studied the person before her.

Messy black hair, terrible posture and dark rims around his eyes. The girl couldn't see the colour of his orbs on account of how dark it was in the area. She gave herself a minute to relax.

"L-Lost one?" She asked, concentrating on keeping her voice steady.

Lost one put a finger to his lip. "Yes?" He asked. He was holding something in his hands. The smooth, coolness of it was rubbing on her forearm.

Hood sighed. "Don't worry."

She watched as L lifted the object in his hands to view. The moonlight reflected off the surface, but made it light enough to make out what it was. A jar. A jar of what?

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, unscrewing the lid with slow, careful motions. He ran his finger around the rim of the jar and licked off whatever was on his finger.

"Nothing. I'm just thinkning." She answered him, mumbling the last part.

L raised the jar and tilted it so the contents slid in his mouth. The girl grimaced at his eating habits. "Thinking? About what?" He wondered.

'_None of your business.'_ She thought, not answering the older teen before her.

"Very well. Its best you get back into your dorm." He said, barely giving her a chance to return a reply while turning and walking towards the doors of the orphanage, leaving the girl by herself. She hurried to catch up with him but it had been too late. He'd already gone.

...

**Wooo! Chapter 5 bitches :D Yeah, sorry for the late update... I had a bit of a rough week :/ **

**ANYWAY! Besides deppressingness (yeah I know that ain't a word) How about something positive? Hmm? I think a review sounds nice :D **


	6. Stairs

**WOOOT! Chapter 6 my lovelies! Hmm? Did everyone enjoy the last chappeh? OOhh I HOPE SO :D**

**DIScLAiMerrrr: Beyond is MINE :D :D :D :D L is ALSO MINE :D :D :D :D :D You can have the rest XD**

_Chapter 6:_

Hood travelled back, walking as quickly as her legs would take her to her room inside the orphanage. The goosebumps that had raised after the encountering outdoors had not left her, making her skin sensitive to even the slightest of touches. Her heartbeat was still quick, and had began to hurt her as it barely decreased. Her skin had a slight dew of sweat dampening it, but not enough for obviousness. She was still in shock from when L had grabbed her and surprised her. There was one question that had entered her mind too late after he left; _What was _he_ doing outside?_

He asked her the same question but the girl was in too much shock to even come up with simple words.

The doors to the orphanage, to her surprise, were easily pushed opened. Warm air circulated around her cold body. She let out a low sigh in relief to see that Roger wasn't waiting angrily for her. She stepped in, keeping an eye out for L. Hood gently closed the door behind her, being careful not to make too much of a noise.

The lighting inside the orphanage was dimmed orange. The corners and sides remained black while the middle was lit. It'd be too easy to hide in the corners and not be seen. Hood did not dare look at the darkness around her, it's crazy but she imagined millions of spiders, bugs and insects crawling all over the walls. She closed her eyes. God damn she hated bugs. Breathing in and out to calm herself and her imagination, she crouched and sneaked through the hallway until she reached the staircase room.

This room was just as dimly lit as the other. If not, maybe even dimmer. Hood stood from her crouching position and looked up the stairs. Each step descended into dark. She sighed, mostly out of annoyance, grabbed the beam and began to walk up, being careful not to let her shoes thud or scuff on the wooden boards of the floor beneath her.

Eventually, she made it up the top to the next storey. She wasn't sure if that was the staircase she was supposed to take to get to her room, but there were so many to choose from that it became confusing.

The second storey was nearly impossible to make out any shapes that may have existed. She looked like she was in the middle of a black hole that began from nowhere and ended nowhere.

Hood's heart was beating rapidly. A lot of terrible things happened in the dark. Muggings, murder, suicide, kidnapping, rape... The list is endless. The girl gulped and continued to walk in the darkness. If anything were to happen to her, she'd be defenceless. Hood thought of herself as stupid for continuing without guidance. But then again, she didn't trust anyone enough to guide her; none of the orphans, not L, not Roger- not even Watari, who was kind enough to take her into his care! Hood sometimes wondered if she even trusted herself.

Her feet were lightly tapping on the floorboards each step she took. The noises were even and gentle. They were even somewhat rhythmical. She wondered if she'd wake anybody up with the noises she was making, but she dismissed this thought as they weren't loud enough. As those thoughts finished streaming through her head, she noticed the tapping of her shoes had become less rhythmical and more uneven. She didn't think of it as a big deal until she heard a loud _'thonk' _noise.

Hood knew that had not come from her. She turned on the balls of her feet to see if anybody else was up and out. All noise had decreased. The hallway was dead quiet. As much as she strained her eyes, she couldn't see anyone or anything. The girl felt a shiver run down her spine as all sense of security she had built up melted away from her barriers.

"_It's nothing." _She whispered, turning back around and continuing to walk. She took her first step, but the average quite tapping she received was different. The noise had more heavy volume to it. The girl could hear her heart beat loudly and sweat drops began to form on her body. Her breathing began to increase as she turned around again.

"Who's there?" She demanded, purposely making sure her voice was stronger than what she felt. She sounded brave, yet she was quite the opposite. She was trying hard to control her shaking limbs, thanks to her adrenalin pumping through her veins.

There was no answer. Hood stood there for a minute, keeping her eyes sharply set in front of her to detect any movement but sensed none.

"Show yourself." She added after a few minutes bravely.

The room was far too quiet for her liking. She knew something was not right. She could feel it in her gut as it was twisting and churning, making her feel ill and sick to the bone. She suppressed the urge to turn and run for cover, and instead, stood there.

"Come out from where you're hiding. I demand to know who you are and why you are following me." She growled. The girl was scared out of her wits and could not believe what she was saying was shooting out of her mouth like sharp ended bullets. Her voice was thickened and heavier, she was scaring herself with her words let alone the strange presence around her.

Loud, quick footsteps erupted in the narrow hallway, headed straight for the girl who was firmly planted on the ground. Hood refused to scream as she knew the person stalking her was coming at her, instead, she covered herself with her arms. Very cold wind gusted past her as the heavy footed person who was following her seemed to have disappeared. Hood could still hear the quick footsteps echo as they kept going.

Shaking with fear, Hood untangled herself from her position. Her breathing was ragged, her heart was aching, and the hairs on the back of her neck were raised with alertness. Her eyes were widened and her skin was showered with perspiration. She moaned breathlessly, and took off in the opposite direction her stalker ran, back down the stairs.

Hood didn't care one bit about how much noise she was making. All she wanted was to be safe in her mothers arms, but she couldn't even _have_ that. Her mother was already dead, and her father was... Oh god only knew where he was.

The girl felt tears brim her eyes. She demanded to herself she would not sob, not at least until she was sure to be by herself in her bed.

...

Beyond stood in the dark hallway by himself, jar of red, raspberry jam in hand. His finger skimmed the nape of the jar and his tongue licked the sweet substance off. He was the one following Hood down the hallway. He was the one making the extra noises, but he was _not_ the one who ran at her, leaving nothing but a cold gust of wind behind them.

"I think the stalkee may have a stalker of his own." He stated quietly with a smirk, feeling the front of his jeans in which his blade was tucked inside the waistband of.

.-.-.

A was lying on his bed, staring at the dark ceiling above him. His arms were tucked behind his head and his body was stretched out. All was silent. All was peaceful.

The slash on his shoulder and the cut on his neck had been throbbing like crazy. He tried to ignore the pain the whole day while he was sitting in his room, studying by himself. Extreme advanced algebra was not the best way to forget knife wounds struggling to heal. He turned his head to the door as he heard a knock.

"Come in." He said tiredly. As soon as he had said this, the door gracelessly swung open. Standing by the doorway, was a loomy shadow. The brunette sat up from his previous position.

"Good evening, A." The dark voice was too easily recognised as Backup's.

"B? What are you doing here?" He gulped as many possibilities for his spontaneous visit swam through his mind. _'Is he going to finish our game from last night?'_

"Just coming here to visit you." His tone hid no such menace to it; it was empty, monotonous. B entered the room, closing the door behind him.

The room was dark. Almost too dark to see anything, but A could see Backup's shape coming towards him, who was sitting upright in his bed. The low sound of Backup's feet shuffling on the floorboards ceased as he climbed onto the mattress shared by A.

"B? Why are you here?" A asked quietly. B smirked in the darkness. He ran his hand through A's short brown hair. The older teen cringed at B's gentle embrace before leaning into his touch. "Why did you push me away from you, last night?" He asked.

B withdrew his hand from the other boy. "Because I didn't want you to kiss me." He said. A felt his heart throb in sadness at the dark haired teens words.

"Why?" Was all he could manage.

"Because I had already kissed you beforehand." The red eyed teen dead panned. "Besides," He began, leaning over the brunette so he fell backwards onto the bed with Backup on top of him. "I wasn't in the mood last night." He purred, pressing his body onto the older teen underneath him. A moaned as he felt something hard press against his leg.

"B-Backup."

"Don't get the wrong idea. It's only my knife." He said, giving out a slight laugh which famously sounded like he was choking. A ground his hips onto the teen above him.

"You disappoint me, B." He groaned, before receiving a heavily aggressive kiss. Their opened mouths crashed upon one another. A moaned as B was already beginning to slide his tongue into the warm confines of A's mouth. The brunette weaved his fingers into B's ebony locks in an attempt to bring himself closer. B's fingers were twining into A's hair, repeating his action when he realised it was happening to him. They parted for a moment to catch their breaths. A stared into B's glassy red eyes, which were lit with lust while B stared into A's brown ones, which were too dark to make out any sort of emotion he was feeling.

"You don't turn me on." B told him harshly, sitting up from his position. "That's why it was my knife poking into you, not me." A frowned sadly.

"Would you believe me if I told you the same thing?" He asked.

"No."

"Oh. Backup, to be honest, I _am_ attracted to you." The brunette felt his cheeks gradually heat up as he spoke.

"I figured that much."

He sighed. "B, do you want me?"

"..."

He didn't want to show it, especially not in front of Backup, but A felt hurt by B's lack of response. He felt his heart begin to ache and throb. It was more painful than the slashes the black haired teen's knife caused.

Backup sat upright, off the brunette below him. He remained silent, as if contemplating what to say. A was hanging for an answer. He only hoped he would not be hurt, but he knew not being virtually stabbed in the gut is a highly unlikely odd. "... No." He eventually answered. The dark haired teen climbed off the bed and walked with loud shuffles to the door. Before he left, he stopped by the frame and looked back at the brunette lying on his mattress. "Goodnight, A." He said, then exited out the door, closing it tightly behind him.

A was left in the cold darkness of his room. He had been severely bashed by words. His heart was beating rapidly to the point where it felt as if it were going to pop out of his ribcage. His eyes were dampening with fresh tears of pain and he wanted to crawl into a ball and hide in a corner.

"Why doesn't he like me anymore?" He whispered. An image of L was scribbled into his mind. "He can't... no. Backup wouldn't go for someone like him... Would he?"

'_is he even _gay?'

.-.-.

It'd been an hour. She'd been wandering around the orphanage, looking for the right staircase for a whole damned HOUR! She was beginning to think she was just walking around in circles.

Hood felt like her eyes were about to fall out of her head she was that tired. Despite how she was so tired that she could only move in slow, unmotivated shuffles, she was alert of her surroundings. She hadn't yet gotten over her scare in the hallway, so she made sure nobody was stalking her at all. She kept turning around regardless of whether she heard a noise or not.

"8th staircase tonight." She mumbled, not that she'd been counting.

She was standing before another one of the many staircases she had dared to climb that day. This one was a bit narrower than the other staircases she had encountered earlier before. It was located in one of the many hallways at the back of the orphanage. She couldn't remember where the staircase which lead to the dorms was located or what it looked like, she just hoped it was the right one.

She grabbed onto the beam and took a careful step onto the first stair. It made no noise but the quiet tap of her shoe. She turned her head to see if anyone was there, not that she could see anything. Nothing stirred or felt out of place. Her other leg stepped on the next level of the stairs. She continued to noiselessly and slowly walk up the steps, constantly turned behind at each movement she made. It was completely noiseless until she reached the middle few stairs. The wooden floorboards creaked loudly and the blonde cringed.

'_I hope no one heard that...' _She thought as she quickened her pace up the stairs.

She stood by the doorless entrance to the room. She did not dare take a step in. If possible, this room was darker than black. She strained her eyes to see in, but still could not make out even the slightest of shapes.

Hood felt unsafe to be even looking in the room. She hadn't felt safe before, but for some reason, it just suddenly hit her. She was trapped in the darkness, no clue where she was or how to get back to where she wanted to go. People had been following her and scaring her, chasing her and running at her!

She felt more sweat begin to grow and her hairs were standing on end again. Her stomach tied itself in knots and hatched butterflies. After at least three minutes of staring into the dark room on the top of the staircase, she knew she wasn't alone. She couldn't hear anything, but she could feel someone else's presence near her. Her breathing grew heavier, and it took all of her might to stop herself from running back down the stairs, wailing and screaming.

She clenched her eyes shut and grinded her teeth together before turning on the balls of her feet back around.

Nothing.

Nothing at all was out of place. She was getting sick of this.

"WHO ARE YOU!" She yelled, screaming at the top of her lungs. She waited a moment, growing more annoyed at the response she received; silence. She growled. "ANSWER ME! WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME!"

Silence.

"What? You're afraid to talk to me now? Are you going to run away like you did last time?" There was still no answer. Hood began to feel silly for yelling. It was probably all her imagination. Well, not the time somebody was running at her, but this moment.

She sighed slowly and deeply, trying to calm herself down and began to head down the stairs, but nothing could stop her over reactive imagination from escaping her.

***sigh* Finally got this chapter done :D**

_**READ THIS!**_

**Ok, I was thinking about putting a lemon or two in this story. If you'd like one, I need more than 5 reviews for this chapter and future chapters. Come on, last chapter I got like 2 of them! It isn't good enough, and it's kind of insulting when you work hard at writing a couple of words for your entertainment and some of you don't have to decency to leave a review! I'm sorry if this rant is mean but it's how I feel.**

**Anyway, If you'd like a lemon just tell me which characters you'd like one to be shared between. I already have my ideas on who I want to give a lemon to but you tell me who you want. :D**

**Don't forget to review! :)**


	7. Dominance

**Hello there :D :D :D So, people have been wondering who is stalking Hood I see :D Well, the plot is about to begin soon... ;)**

**Disclaimer: (elevator music) This product is brought to you by teB360, whom owns every single little part of her imagination :D (that include Beyond and Lawlie :D)**

**L: LAWLIET! GET IT RIGHT!**

**Me: Henhenhenh :D**

_Chapter 7: Dominance_

Sunlight flooded into the many dank and dark hallways of the orphanage, blinding Hood who had yet to find her room. She was exploring a corridor, wary of the time. She wondered why the orphanage was so large when there was only a few inhabitants in it.

She had red rims around her eyes as she had absolutely no sleep. How could anyone sleep after constantly being stalked and followed all night? Hood still hadn't established if everything was just her imagination or if it really did happen.

Somebody _was_ following her, though. It was proved when he or she ran at her, but Hood didn't know for how long she was being followed.

Her head was heavy and felt like it was going to drop off her shoulders at anytime. Her eyelids were straining to stay open, yet Hood couldn't help but close them as she was walking.

The sunlight had finally caught her and blinded her. Her steps were slow and unsteady. Her limbs felt like blocks of lead dragging her down and she knew she was going to collapse on the cold, hard floorboards very soon.

.-.-.

L climbed out of the shower in the boys bathroom after turning the boiling hot water off. After he stepped out, he tied a towel tightly around his waist. He walked out of the entire cubicle.

His dark grey and black rimmed eyes scanned the small area for his clothes, but had no luck as they obviously weren't there.

"I put them here. I remember." H sighed out of annoyance. "I know I did. I've got photographic memory..."

His clothes must have been taken. That was the only conclusion L had come up with. It was unlike him to forget such a thing, so it was logical that somebody had sneaked into the change room connected to the shower cubicle while he was in there. The only thing was; the door was locked.

_Strange..._

L exited the empty change room. His towel was held firmly in case it were to fall. The boys' bathroom was west of his room and you had to venture through two other hallways just to get there. L hoped that no other orphan was up and out yet because he didn't exactly want people to see his half naked body. The bathroom was empty, thankfully, but it didn't matter who saw you in there because usually it was a sausage fest.

He left the bathroom in haste into the first quiet hallway. Luckily no one was in there yet. L's bare feet quickly padded over the wooden floorboards making barely a sound. He made it to the bend and the beginning of the second hallway. The one after that one was the dorms hallway.

He skimmed around the corner and gasped as somebody was lying on the floor besides the right wall. He stepped slowly, wondering why an orphan was lumped on the floor. As he came closer, he realised it was the new one; Hood. What was she doing on the floor, this early in the morning?

When he approached her form, he realised she was sleeping. Her chest was rising and falling slowly and softly and she looked peaceful and uncomfortable at the same time. L contemplated whether to wake her or not, but good will possessed him and he shook her shoulder.

She stirred and rolled on her back before slowly opening her eyes in a daze. L could soon see dark blue orbs come to light. They widened and she made a loud gasp before sitting up.

"You were asleep." L told her quietly. She blinked and said nothing at first. A few seconds later, she seemed to flinch and she jerked backwards, away from L. She seemed shaken for some reason. Her fast breathing eventually slowed. L didn't know why he waited for her, but he thought that he just wanted to hear her voice and see if everything was fine.

"L?" She asked. He nodded. She ran a hand through her hair. "I couldn't find the dorms." She told him.

"Next hallway, straight ahead." He told her and pointed in the correct direction. She turned her head to where L was directing her and thanked him, feeling like an idiot. L expected her to stand and leave, but she didn't. She still needed to ask him a question.

"L? What were you doing outside last night?" She asked.

L cocked a brow and tilted his head, confused. "Excuse me?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten. You even spoke to me."

'_First my clothes and now my appearance outside? What's going on?' _ "I'm afraid I have." He said, defeatedly.

"L, you were. You were eating something out of a jar. It smelled sweet." Hood didn't know what the scent had anything to do with, but she thought that it might jog his memory.

"Like what? Like... jam?" He asked suspiciously.

"You remember?"

"Hood... That wasn't-"

"L!" Somebody cut in. Hood looked past him and saw that it was K. L turned his head, but before he could say anything, she dragged him to his feet and asked him to help her study.

"Kay, I was in the middle of a conversation with somebody." He growled, but it seemed that K hadn't heard him and she began to explain to him what she was having trouble with, while taking him back to the bathrooms' hallway.

"Ok, I will help, but later." He broke away from her grasp. "I need to get dressed first, and finish my conversation with Hood." K gripped his arm again. L tried to pull away but her grip tightened.

"What were you two talking about?" She asked.

"That doesn't concern you." L ripped his arm from her hands and walked back down the hallway. _'How annoying.'_ He grumbled in his mind. Apart from the fact that K obviously didn't want him to talk to Hood, two people saw him half naked.

As he returned to the second hallway, he noticed that Hood had already left. He sighed and kept walking to his room.

L opened up the door quite easily and closed it behind him once he entered his room. He gasped in surprise to see that Backup was inside.

"B? What are you doing in here?" He asked.

Backup was sitting on his bed. He was grinning like usual. Only difference with normal peoples' grins and his was that his grin made him look like a psycho.

"Just thought I'd come for a friendly visit."

"At 7 in the morning?"

"Yeah. Not too early for you, is it?" He laughed. "Anyway, I thought I'd tell you I dumped A last night."

"I hadn't even realised you were in a relationship with him, let alone homosexual."

"I wouldn't have exactly called it a relationship, but I can assure you I'm not homosexual."

"You had a boyfriend, if anything, that screams homosexual to me." L replied rudely.

B growled before sighing to calm himself down. "So L, what's your sexuality? Hetero... Homo... Bi...?"

"Asexual." He replied easily.

"Asexual? Well, that doesn't come to a surprise. So, you don't go for girls _or_ boys?"

"Isn't that the definition of 'Asexual'?"

"I find that hard to believe, L. You were being friendly with that 'Hood' girl."

"That doesn't mean a thing."

"Really? Doesn't she get you a _little_... how should I say it... charged?"

"B! She's 10! I'm 15! That's disgusting."

B shrugged and fell backwards on L's bed. He sprawled his arms and got comfortable. "Sorry. I was just testing to see if you were into little girls who haven't hit puberty yet." He yawned tiredly and stretched his arms over his head, purposely making sure that his thin black tee shirt rode up his body and showed L his developing muscles. L ignored them because he didn't care what B looked like without a shirt.

"B, that's disgusting." L repeated.

B sat up. "L, I doubt you're asexual. Don't give me that bullshit." B climbed off the bed and confronted L. They were both almost the same height so neither needed to look up or look down to see each other.

"And what makes you think that?" L asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable being so close to the red eyed teen.

"I'll prove your sexuality." B promised, leaning close to L's lips. L, shocked, pulled away backwards. B smirked, as L's face had brightened in colour.

"You must be silly if you think kissing me will prove my sexuality. It'd take a lot more than that."

B's smirk turned into a grin. "Really now?" He laughed devilishly. L knew B had taken his words the wrong way. "Well then, _Lawliet,_ let us take action." He said, closing in on the older teen. L backed up and hit the wall.

"You knew my name?"

"I know everyone's' names', Lawliet." B began. "All it takes is one look." He explained. L had no way of escaping the young teen, so he stood, stiff as a board.

"I know your name, _L Lawliet,_ so maybe you should know mine, just to return the favour." B hissed, roughly weaving his fingers in L's wet, black locks. "_Beyond Birthday"_ He whispered harshly, pulling at the hair on the back of L's head while forcing him into a violent kiss. L's eyes opened widely. He'd been expecting Beyond to do this, but it still came as a shock to him.

L refused to move, even as Beyond kissed him. He didn't even push him off. He just stood there and took it. Beyond bit at his tongue and his lips hardly until L drew blood. The older teen groaned at the pain. B pulled apart from L, yet still connected by a string of drool between the two.

They both stared at one another, while catching their breaths. L had bite marks all over his mouth, while B still had the taste of L's blood on his tongue.

"Was that enjoyable?" B asked, wiping his mouth on his forearm. L said nothing at first. "Well?"

"B, that was my first kiss." L growled before pushing the younger teen off him.

"Better I take it then some _stupid_ bitch." He cackled.

"You're worse than 'some stupid bitch'"

B laughed again. "Good, it's what I aim for. Now what about your virginity?" He asked.

"What? Are you considering raping me?"

"No, I wouldn't do that." B said, sitting back down on L's bed. "Unless you wanted me to, of course."

"B, you're 13." L reminded him.

"True, I am, but age shouldn't be stopping me from doing what I want."

It was a good point, but L still believed B shouldn't be like this. "B, 13 and 15? We are both underage, and legally, if you were 16 and I was 18 it'd probably be considered paedophilia."

"Oh, so you _want_ me to fuck you?"

"I never said that. And besides, if we were to have sex, it'd be me _'fucking'_ you."

B tilted his head to the side. "And what makes you think that?"

"I'm older."

"So? I kissed you and still dominated."

"Sex is different."

"How would you know? You're a virgin."

"So are you!"

"How would you know that, L?" B grinned.

Beyond _was_ still a virgin, of course, but what harm could tricking L do?

"Because I am L, and what L says, goes, got it?"

"Fuck that. I'm Beyond fucking Birthday! I do what I want, when I want, where I want. And I want you, _now, _on the _bed." _He demanded.

**Yes, yes. Short chappeh, but hope you enjoyed! :D Wow, Beyond is a control freak, isn't he? BAHAHAHA! *ahem* **

**Anyway, so who wants to see a juicy L and BB lemon? Mmm, nice and kinky! XD BAHAHA *ahem***

**Remember, 5 REVIEWS! I only got a few for the last chapter *cries***


	8. Adivice

**Hello there! :D :D Guess what? I went on a ghost tour! IT WAS AWESOME!**

**It was at the Mayday Hills Mental Asylum in Beechworth (A random place in Victoria, Australia) :D**

**MY GOLLY It was creepy! :/ Baah! A ghost kept poking and tapping my head and stroking my elbow! IT was CREEPY! **

**I now truly believe in ghosts, because before we went to the asylum I went to a HUGE cemetery in the middle of the night with a bunch of friends (nearly got lost *sweat drop* ) I took a bunch of photos and I swear there was one of two ghosts emerging from a grave! GAHH! I'm going to send the pictures to my deviant art account. I have the link to it on my profile. Ehhehhhehhh... **

**Anyway, another reason I believe in them now, is because in the pictures there were orbs EVERYWHERE! And my camera doesn't ever really pick those sort of things up! Nyahhaahhh... **

**OK! I'll stop talking about the ghost tour... I guess I'll talk about it on a Deviant Art journal thingo... XD BTW, my username for Deviant Art is teB360 still :P**

**DISCLAIMER: BEYOND IS MY SEXY MAN! AND L IS BEYOND'S SEXY MAN! AND THEY BOTH ARE MY SLAVES! XD **

_Chapter 8: Advice_

A knew L probably would not be the best person to ask for love advice from, but L was the smartest orphan under the roof and possibly the most understanding. Would L really mind if he had a major crush on his ex, Backup? No, probably not.

He stood right before L's closed door. His hand was just over the handle, not quite touching it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I can do this. I can ask for help... For advice... It's not that hard!" A didn't understand why he was thinking it'd be so hard to ask for advice on a male from another male.

He gently twisted the door knob and pushed the door open. He stepped in and the sight before him created another hole in his heart: Backup; Shirtless. L; Possibly naked, underneath him. Backup turned around. He was grinning harshly, his red eyes were sharp and pierced him. His lips were swollen and bruised red. L tried to manoeuvre himself to see who had walked in on this awkward moment. Beyond was harshly pressing on his shoulders, forcing him to the bed, placing vigorous kisses on his lips. L managed to take a glance at A before being pushed back into the bed.

A felt a fire burn through his body, creating holes, wounds and abrasions. The fire ran from his skin, to his blood, to his heart. His heart was aching, thudding, hitting and rattling his ribs. He felt that the chambers of his heart were going to pull apart and disintegrate into ash. He felt like Each and every vein and valve were going to explode. He hadn't noticed, as he stared at the two on the bed that his eyes had watered and the tears were brimming his eyes and threatened to fall. He gritted his teeth to prevent himself from saying anything to reveal how destroyed he had been to see this.

"Well well well, looks like A has stumbled in on our fun, eh Lost One?" B chided. He smirked at him.

"A! It's not what it looks like B-" L was cut off by B's hand covering his mouth.

"That's quite enough from you. I think it's time for a gag, don't you think?"

A didn't say anything. He stood and watched as B tied his shirt around L's mouth. Why couldn't he fight back then? He had arms...

"You should stay and watch, A... Pull up a chair, or join in, _if you're game enough..."_

A swallowed and backed up, watching L struggle with him. His dark eyes looked widened in shock, and possibly fear? ... No. L wouldn't be afraid of B. This is _L_ you're talking about. He's not afraid of anything, because he has knowledge and knowledge is power.

"B? Are you sure L wants this?" He asked nervously, trying not to let his voice grow dry.

"I don't know, A... _Does_ L want this?"

A looked at L. He was shaking his head. He looked back at B. "I-"

"You want this, though. You'd love for me to tie you up like this, and binding your arms together and fucking you senseless beyond your control!" He laughed more to than what was supposedly funny.

A looked at L again. His arms had been tied together by what looked like a towel. The knot looked complicated and somehow B managed it with something as thick as that sort of material. "B... This is sadistic and L doesn't want this..."

"And? You want this, don't you?"

Before any thought registered in his mind, before he even realised B had finished talking or what he said, he was shaking his head. "N-no! I don't!" He hadn't noticed his hot, wet tears travelling down his cheeks.

B climbed off L and closed in on A. A stepped backwards until the point where he hit the door. The handle was jabbing into his back, and it was hurting, yet he kept trying to get further into the door. He felt a cold sweat travel down from the back of his neck down his spine. B ran his fingers down from A's neck, down his chest. His lips were right at his ear.

"I've already told you that you don't turn me on... If you prove me wrong, you receive a second chance with me..." He whispered. A winced.

"I d-don't wa-want to try!" That was a lie. A loved him, and he always knew that he'd have a soft spot for him, no matter what he did or who he hurt. He wanted him back. Badly. But, better judgment was fresh in his mind. He was not a strong person and could break easily and B knew that and also knew how best to take advantage of that. A knew that the whole time they were together. He still had no idea why he fell for him or why he wanted to stay with him. He knew he was going to be destroyed by B again.

"Don't. Fucking. Lie." He hissed. A turned his head away from the other teen and B's agile, thin fingers roughly pulled it back and stared into his dark brown eyes while A stared back at B's crimson eyes that looked like two, deep pools of blood.

.-.-.

Hood opened up her bedroom door and her eyes widened at the mess. Her clothes were thrown everywhere, carpeting the floor over the wooden boards underneath. She stepped in carefully. She was getting sick of this person who felt the need to constantly torment her. She gritted her teeth and furrowed her brow.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" She screamed. She rarely swore much, usually only when she was angry she did.

Her suitcase which she had failed to unpack was tipped over on the bed and every drawer, which she hadn't bothered to put anything in yet, was pulled out and left on the floor. Her wardrobe which she had left empty was wide opened and there was a large hole on the back plank.

Somebody definitely was stalking her. This had just proved it. She needed to do something, but the only thing she had in mind was to tell Roger, but she really didn't want to involve an annoying old man in her matters.

She collapsed to the floor, weaving her fingers through her hair. _'Why?'_ Was the only thought running through her frustrated mind. It was going to take her ages to clean up this mess.

She was just glad that she had nothing valuable in her possession, because the state this room was in, it'd probably have been destroyed.

Hood owned no picture of her mother or father. No relic that belonged to them. Nothing. She barely even looked like her parents.

It'd only been a few weeks since her mother had died and not knowing where her father was, they sent her off to England after learning of her unusually high I.Q for someone of her young, tender age.

Hood was beginning regrettably forget her mothers voice. She couldn't remember what made it so individual, if it was sweet or if it was harsh.

She opened her eyes to the mess that covered the floors and took any opportunity to climb on the furniture. She sighed. "Well, looks like they've done the unpacking for me... at least." She stood and picked up a thin blue tee shirt.

The material was soft under her fingers and not thick at all. A typical summer shirt. She took one look out the window and thought; _'my fathers probably out there bathing in the sunlight while I'm stuck in this freezing hole of a country where everything is as gray as my mood!' _Her fists clenched in the thin summer shirt. _'And I never get to see a god damn proper summer, either!'_

She looked down at all the clothes on the floor. Most of them were tee shirts and shorts. She angrily clenched her teeth and picked up an armful of them before making her way to the opened window and dropping them three storeys below. She turned back around. So many clothes. Still on her whim, she began to pick up the rest of her clothes, bit by bit, before throwing them out the window until she had no clothes left. Hood turned around. Her room was spotless. She sighed and fell on a wall while her back began to slide down it until she hit the floor. She stayed there for a few minutes before she felt her stomach churn and growl. She was hungry.

.-.-.

B slid his hand up and down A's chest with slow, fluid actions. "What a pity... You don't want to join in..." He sighed. "Then I guess you'll have to watch." He laughed. "But, I'll have to give you something so you'll stay..." He said, falling to his knees. Backup's face was right at A's crotch.

A felt his face heat up and sweat drops begin to form on his face. "W-what? So you're not going to tie me up like you did L?" He asked, sceptically. B looked up from him.

"I suppose not..." B replied, already grabbing onto the hem and zip of A's jeans.

A was in shock. He couldn't believe this was about to happen.

B unzipped his pants and let them fall to his ankles. A looked over to L. L was staring widely. A clenched his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. He did not want this. He felt B's cold fingers grab hold of the elastic of his bonds briefs and he couldn't help but open his eyes in the slightest. It looked like B was grabbing something from his pocket. A tried to look closer. It was small and black. As A kept his eyes on it, he realised what it was.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" A jumped, newly realising he had freedom all along. B was holding a lighter in his hand. He looked up at him and smirked.

"Just a warning... And a reminder for you that I have been the first fucker to ever touch that thing you call a dick!"

"I didn't want you to!" A snapped back, sounding braver then what he actually was. B raised an eyebrow.

"Looks like the puppy has some bite." He laughed at his metaphor.

A tried to pull his pants up but B grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled him down on the floor with him.

A landed roughly and B wrapped his arms around the others teens waist to make sure he wasn't going anywhere. "Did you want me to suck you off?" He asked.

A felt his face heat up. "No! No way!"

"Then why didn't you move. I hadn't bound you to anything."

He was cornered. "B, I didn't! I-" Backup was sick of hearing A's voice, so to block it, he pressed in the small distance between there faces into a kiss.

A, having the advantage of being on top, pulled away from B's attempted false romance. "I can't do this!" He yelled. B's blank expression had been put on play. He didn't say anything. "You've made me so confused! I can't take it anymore! At one point, it seems like you want me the next... You want to fucking hurt me! Will you just make up your god damned mind!" He didn't notice his eyes begin to water.

B's thin, emotion lacked lips twisted into a grin that was obviously based off a smirk. "I have made up my mind. A long time ago. I only wanted you because I could hurt you so easily. Even if I said one little thing wrong, or in my case right, you'd be shattered." He laughed.

"Sadist." The brunette whispered. His tears fell, landing on Beyond's cheek. _'I'm in love with a-' _"SADISTIC PIECE OF SHIT!" He interrupted himself.

"KYAHAHAHAHAHA!" The red eyed teen laughed. A's hands clenched tightly before he climbed to his feet. He felt so torn and disgusted inside. He felt even worse when he looked at his happy face.

"Fuck you. I hope you choke on that shitty laugh of yours one day." A spat before walking out the door, leaving L tied up on the bed and B rolling around on the carpet laughing.

He closed the door behind him and leant on the panels. His heart was racing and his head was spinning. His veins were filled with so much adrenaline to the point where his limbs shook. He remained out there, taking a couple of breaths before he decided to peel himself from the door and head to his own room.

He took a couple of slow steps to his room. He'd forgotten the fact that he was still crying from earlier. He'd grown used to his hot tears running down his cheeks.

Hood was in a hurry. She needed to get something to eat, and fast. She hadn't realised how hungry she was until then. She felt dizzy, even. She felt sick. She thought she was going to collapse in pain and among other things like that. Her steps were quick and because her mind was set on one thing, and one thing only, she hadn't been watching where she had been going and tripped on something and landed on another body.

"Ah, I'm sorry." Said a male voice. Hood, just realising what had happened, quickly rolled off the person she had fallen on.

"Yeah." She replied. The boy sat up. "A? Right?" She asked.

He looked at her. His eyes were wet and his white cheeks were tainted with red streaks from tears. "Yeah."

"Are... you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine."

"But. You're crying...?" Gently, she wiped a tear away. She realised how out of character that action was. She was just thankful that A wouldn't have known, because this is the first time they'd ever really spoken.

A felt his face and muttered a curse under his breath. "It's kind of a long story..."

"I didn't ask."

"Yeah I know... I just thought you might be wondering why a kid like me was openly crying..."

"I don't know you."

"... Yeah... Look, can you keep this a secret. I kinda don't want K to find out that I was crying..."

"Sure. One question, why not?"

A sighed. He turned his head behind him. "That's also kind of a long story..."

**HELLO THERE! Could this be the blossoming of a beautiful friendship that will last forever and ever and ever and ever? :D Who knows, and wow, BB sure is mean :/ I want to kick his sexy ass XD**

**ANYWAY! Ok, before Hood was dissing England, mkay, what she was saying/ thinking, is not how **_**I**_** feel about the place! I'm sorry if she insulted you or anything... Please forgive her... and mehhh... She means well... I think... Lol!**

**SO! PLZ PLZ PLZ with SUGARRR on top, REVIEW :D :D lol! XD Hope you enjoyed dehh chappie! XD Dere's more where dat came from... I just need to write it first! HAHAH!**


	9. Jealousy

**Hello there :) So everyone enjoy the last chapter? Lol I think people stopped reading this because of the yaoi **

**ANYWAY! I've decided to look for a theme song for Hood. ((and possibly the other characters) I've been looking at Evanescence haha.) I've found one for Beyond, and that is **_**Lights out- Breaking Benjamin. **_**You should check it out! It's pretty cool!**

**Disclaimer: I own Beyond Birthday. He currently resides in my cupboard :D (Wiiith Rena Ryugu from Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni) I just don't own Death Note (cries)**

_Chapter 9:_

A cool breeze blew past her, brushing her blonde hair in her face. A was seated in front of her on the cold wooden floorboards. His tears had begun to dry.

He wasn't looking at her as she was. He was looking past her, the doorway of her room.

"Hood..." He began.

"Yes?" She turned her head to the direction in which he was staring.

"Tha- that's _your_ room, right?" There was something uneasy about his attitude. Hood's eyebrows furrowed.

"It is." She answered solemnly. "Why." Her voice was strong; somewhat annoyed from before.

He remained quiet, subtly biting his bottom lip while keeping his eyes on the door. "Just... don't worry." He pulled himself up from the floor. His knees feeling weak as if they were going to buckle. "Just... be careful, ok?"

And those were the only words she received from him before he disappeared into his own room, leaving her confused.

She remained on the floor, staring at his closed door, eyebrows nearly touching.

The hallway was quiet. It was as if it were a ghost town and she was the only living soul miles away from any human contact. She felt her stomach rumble and heard it growl. It was so silent, she swore it echoed. She was reminded of her hunger and tried to stand.

'_There's something he's not telling me...'_ She thought. _'But what?'_ Hood descended down the stairs to find the kitchens, thinking up many possibilities to why that might be, or what he may be hiding.

...

The kitchen was pretty empty. Only other sort of soul in there was Xanthus. Sure, she was nice to her in class, and easy to get along with, but Hood felt like she did not want to acquaint herself with her. Like she didn't _want_ to be her friend.

She sat on the other side of the table by herself, opposite the older, white-blonde haired girl. She hoped that she wouldn't become talkative, barely leaving her room to reply or leave the entire conversation, like she was in class.

"Oh! Hi Hood! Good morning!" Call out a shrill, chirpy voice from across the room.

Failed.

"Oh... Good morning, Xanthus." Hood replied half heartedly, wishing it wasn't rude just to walk out without so much as a _'right back at ya' _or _'Hey... Howzit going?'_ But unfortunately it was.

Hood usually, as mentioned once before, didn't care for rudeness. This time she did and swore to herself, (or on her mothers grave) she'd _try_ to be nice to people and make as many friends as possible.

In the past, she didn't _want_ to have friends. Friends were too much trouble and usually got in the way. They asked too many questions, she figured. They _cared_ too much. Hood didn't want that. The only person she wanted caring for her, was herself and her mother.

Hood, again once mentioned before, had only one thing close to a friend. Her name was Deidre McFarley. A very quiet girl, much like herself. Didn't talk much, which was one of the only qualities Hood really liked about her. She never asked her questions on why she always had to stay late after class, and always listened when needed.

"Good sleep?" Asked Xanthus.

'_Good sleep? Bah! I slept on the cold floor.' _She rubbed at a kink in her neck, wincing at the pain. "Sure." She answered.

"That's good!" Her voice was louder and almost seemed to be right in her ear. Sleepily, Hood turned her head in the direction the voice was coming from.

Hood felt her heart flip and jumped back, accidently tipping the chair over. Bright green eyes sent her blue ones into a void and ate her. Hood landed on the floor with a thud, never forgetting that she landed flat; face first.

"You alright?" Xanthus sounded alarmed. She leant over in her new chair to see Hood in a rather awkward position with the chair.

She was now lying flat on her back, arms and legs splayed, with the back of the chair in between her legs and on her chest. How the back of the chair was on top of her was beyond both girls.

Hood groaned in response.

.-.-.

"Does... belong to you?" Roger asked, unfolding a thin, light blue, summer tee-shirt.

Hood sat on the only chair in front of his desk. _'Ah, I remember that shirt.'_ That was the shirt she had thrown out the window first, along with the rest of her clothes.

She nodded slowly. Never opening her mouth to say anything.

"How about... this?" Roger unfolded a dark, olive green hooded jumper that was at least three times her major.

"Of course."

"Then... these?" He unfolded a baggy pair of blue jeans.

"Yes."

Roger sighed and placed his palm in the centre of his forehead. "Ok, then. Does this mean I can safely assume that the rest of the clothes I have here are _yours?"_ He asked, annoyed.

"Who else's would they be?" She replied rudely, being careful not to sneer at the pure obviousness of this discovery.

Roger tried his hardest to ignore her attitude. "You have an obvious disrespect for your property, most likely others' property as well." He said, parading around the room with his arms crossed behind his back. He made sure to keep an eye on her to see if she'd fidget or twitch.

"I obviously cannot trust you, can I?"

"But sir, I've barely done anything." Hood argued, making sure to keep her voice in check.

"_Don't_ argue with me, Hood. Already you are treading a fine line. And don't tell me that you've 'barely done anything'." He twitched his fingers in emphasis of her words. "I know of your antics... You find it hard to stay in your room at night, don't you?"

Hood said nothing. She kept her eyes lowered to her knees.

"Answer me."

"Y-yes."

"When you answer me," Roger growled, taking quick steps to his desk; Hood could feel the breeze as he walked past her. "You will address me by my name!" He snapped, banging a ruler on his desk.

The girl jumped. "Yes, Mr. Ruvie."

"You're a quick learner." He stated bitterly. He held the ruler in one hand and used the other to steady it as he began to wander around the room again. "That's good." He stopped when he reached the door, and turned around.

"So why won't you report to your room at nightfall?" He asked.

"I-I-"

"-Because I heard about it. You like to wander.

I heard from one of the orphans you stayed out late tonight... You've been here only a few days and attended your first class yesterday... I heard you like to sit on the swing... Or wander the hallways..."

_The hallways._ Hood felt her eyes widen and felt prickles begin to poke her skin. "The _hallways?"_ She choked.

Roger, for the first time in the entire interrogation, placed his eyes over hers.

"Don't play dumb. I know you've been wandering the hallways at night. The orphan who told me saw you. The orphan thought that you may have been going somewhere so the orphan followed you for a few steps apparently. The orphan figured that you weren't going anywhere in particular so decided to leave."

Roger was clever enough not to let slip any clue on who this mysterious orphan was, but hearing _'The orphan' _every sentence was beginning to get annoying.

"Would you mind telling me who 'the orphan' is?" She asked. She knew he wouldn't tell her. He would remain tight lipped about it. Finding out who this orphan is would have answered all of her questions, so she felt she _had_ to at least try.

"I'm afraid that is most definitely a question I will not under any circumstances answer." He said in the most rudest, asshole-ish tone he could possibly muster up. On top of that he gave her a disgustingly dirty look.

Hood felt a vein pop in her head. "Fine. You don't have to tell me, but, I'd just like to let you know," She began, making sure she sounded snidey, bitchy and extremely irritated. "_Some idiot_ has been following me and tormenting me, trashing my room and making me lose track of where I am in the dark when I'm _trying to head back_ to my _dorm!"_ She snapped. "You either tell me who the _hell_ this orphan who's been following me is and deal with him or her, or I'll have to do it myself!"

Roger seemed unfazed. He sat there with an annoyed, blank expression on his face. "I doubt you have the skill to find out who this orphan is by yourself."

.-.-.

"He doesn't want me to find out he's been crying?" Kay repeated, after hearing it herself from A who was sitting around the corner on the floorboards talking to Hood.

Kay hadn't had a good view of them. She was at least 3 or four metres away and around the corner, peering from behind the wall.

She could see the back of A's head and the side of Hood's. They were (or what it seemed like) engaging in a conversation. It wasn't exactly clear on what they were talking about. It was mostly mumbled, like he didn't want anyone else to hear.

He pointed to a door in the hallway and Hood turned her head to it and turned it back. She spoke, as if possibly answering a question.

Kay watched as A stood shakily. He said something clearer: _'Be careful'_ He turned around and the brunette quickly disappeared behind the wall.

She pouted at his last sentence to her while her eyebrows knitted together. _'Why would he _care_ about her safety?'_ She grumbled in her mind. She crept to the corner again and gazed at the confused blonde on the ground and watched as she began to stand. Kay hid her head behind the wall again while she pressed her back to it as Hood turned to her direction and began to head down the stairs.

Kay came out of hiding once she was sure that Hood had completely left. She sheathed her eyes at the sunlight that had poured through the cracks of the curtains from the window.

She kept her footsteps soft as she walked (or crept) over to A's room. He didn't want her to find out that she was crying, but he'd let that new _bitch_ Hood know? Kay wouldn't let that stand. She gritted her teeth in anger. _She couldn't let that happen._ She'd known him almost all her life and he wouldn't give her the trust to see him sob?

Kay hadn't realised she was overreacting and getting so upset over something _ridiculous_.

She came across the front of his door, which was closed off to keep him in and the world out. She decided not to bother knocking. She wanted to catch him crying. He didn't want her to see him like that, well, _too bad._

She turned the knob gently and pushed the door open. She stood in the door frame, letting the creaks of the opening door let A know that she was there.

"A?" She asked sweetly.

No answer.

"A?" She asked again. She was sure he walked in his room. He didn't walk down the stairs. If he did, Kay would have known. He had no bathroom in here, he shared a large one along with all the other orphans a hallway away. He _must_ be in here.

She closed the door and stepped to the unmade but definitely empty bed. Pointless as it was, she pulled back the covers for at least some clue of where he was. There was nothing. She lifted up his pillow in case he may have hidden something for her to find. Again, nothing. She fell to her knees and looked under his bed.

The space was too small for a boy of his age and build to hide under, but it was still worth a look.

Underneath, there was nothing but dust bunnies. She sighed and crawled out from there.

The room was empty. Despite there still being furniture, it was still empty. Well, even if he wasn't in here, she thought that she may as well open the curtains in here, at least to get a little bit of sunlight.

She took slow steps to avoid tripping over the mess on the floor towards the window. With two outstretched lengths, her arms pulled open his curtains and yellow morning sunlight poured in the room from the opened window which was letting a cool breeze into the room and swirled around the invading girl.

**I think I should leave it at that for now ;D**

**Please tell me you liked the chapter. No, there wasn't any Beyond, but you can't exactly leave the other characters in the dark without learning about their character first :D And don't forget to tell me who you'd like to see a bittersweet lemon between. Come on, it can be ANY character you desire :D**

**Ok, so remember at least 5 reviews please :) I try to ask nicely *sweat drop***


	10. Property

**Why hello, there readers :D I know, my updates haven't exactly been regular, but the term break finished so I'm back at school for term 4... *grumbles* Oh well, I've got 9 weeks left till the summer holz' at least :D**

**Yeah and I wasn't bothered posting anything about the ghost tour on my deviantart... (sorry for those who were interested) (BTW, the link to my dA account is on my profile, right at the bottom methinks.)**

**Disclaimer: Anyone who touches Beyond's or L's asses WILL PAY!**

_Chapter 10: Property_

"A? I knew I'd find you here."

That monotonous, empty voice could only belong to one person, and one person only... _L._

A turned from his perch right on the gutter of the roof of the Wammy's Orphanage.

"L? What do you want." He replied bitterly. "Shouldn't you be _in bed, fucking B! Or has he already had enough of you..." _He growled lowly.

L worked on keeping his expression blank. He sighed and tried heading over to the upset teen on the edge of the roof. The only problem was, he couldn't walk properly; he was limping.

L grunted, and tried to sit himself next to A in his crouch. He tried to suppress a grimace from the throbbing of his injuries that Beyond had caused him.

"Why are you here?" The brunette muttered, clenching his teeth and eyes. His heart was swelling with pain at the thought of those two together. He could already feel his eyes wetting.

"I wanted to talk to you." L answered. He kept his finger underneath his bottom lip and stared at the younger teen intensely with his dark grey eyes, absorbed by almost black holes of pupils.

Saying nothing, A briskly turned his head, and looked at the field underneath the roof. "...Do you think it'll hurt..." He whispered.

L hadn't replied. He kept his dark, almost hollow eyes on him.

"L?" A whispered sadly. He could feel his tears begin to slide down his cheeks.

"What will hurt?"

A trembled and began to sob. The thought of answering L's question hadn't even crossed his mind. It was because his answer nearly killed him inside, not that anybody else would care.

Awkwardly, L reached a half limp hand over to him and patted him on the back. "Everything will be ok, Alternative."

A pushed L's hand away from his shoulder. "Don't touch me! How can you say that! I love him and all he did was toy with me, then cut me down!"He screamed. "He's a sadistic _fuck_, and why would he do this!"

L stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Because it's all a game to him." He replied. "Everything. Emotions, love, _life._ Ours _and_ his. A, Beyond Birthday feels nothing. He cannot love, cannot _hate. _He thinks hurting people, maybe even _killing_ animals could help him with this problem. Make him _feel something, _anything. That's why he does this. He tests himself, to see how far he can go without scaring himself."

A few more tears fell from A's brown eyes before they somewhat dried. "He told me so many times before that he loved me, and he didn't even mean it." He muttered. "Now he's got you. L, please be careful with him..."

"Firstly, I'm not with him, and secondly, you don't need to tell me what I already know."

A ignored L's rudeness. It was a usual thing with him and everybody had already gotten used to it. "You're not with him?"

"No. And I would never attach myself to anybody. I don't need it" He snapped, along following was a sigh. "A... I didn't want what B did to me to ever happen..."

"You mean you didn't want me to walk in on you and B?" A growled.

L sighed. "What happened earlier was out of my control. I had not planned, nor expected this to happen.

"As much as I'd like to believe you... I'm finding it hard..."

"A, he broke into my room and restrained me against my will." The raven haired teen explained. "I don't love B. He doesn't love me. We are not together."

A felt his heart ache once more. _'So... B and L aren't as one... I guess he wins this argument...'_

He stared over the edge of the building again. "Although it relieves me to hear that from you, I cannot escape the pain I already feel. But still... I wonder..." The brunette tried hard to keep his voice steady, and empty; although it pained him to do so. He tried to make his voice an exact copy of L's but knew it wasn't working. His voice was too shaky.

"What is it you wonder?"

"I wonder still, if it'll hurt those around me..."

L tilted his head. "A? What is it that's going through your mind right now?" L's voice was empty and seemed uncaring. A tried not to let that get to him, but could not doubt it already had.

The brunette closed his eyes and felt the earliest few drops of rain hit his face and slide down his body. "... Nothing..."

.-.

Hood growled to herself many cusses and insults about Roger. She stomped up the staircase with loud thumps from under her boots.

"_I will find this orphan. I will make this orphan pay."_ She hissed.

"Which orphan?" Came an almost unfamiliar voice. One that sounded bittersweet and forced.

Hood looked up, finding herself at the nape of the staircase, right on the hallway in which her room was built into. Standing in front of her was Kay, right at the top of the stairs.

"Nothing. Don't worry." Hood tried to manoeuvre her way around the brunette, but Kay wouldn't allow that. She kept stepping in the way of Hood's path.

"Why won't you tell me?" She tried to keep her voice friendly, but it had a sharp edge to it.

The blonde gritted her teeth. "None of your business!" She snapped, trying to push her way through the older girl. Kay pushed her right back with as much force as she could muster. The girl stumbled, nearly down the steps. She quickly grabbed hold of the banister to steady herself.

Hood looked down the stairs to measure its steepness and to think up of how much damage that would have caused her if she hadn't grabbed the railings.

It was a very long staircase, and if she had fallen, she may have even broken her neck.

"Kay, what was that for?" She snapped. The blonde could already feel the adrenaline pumping to her limbs from when K nearly killed her. "You could have really hurt me!"

K didn't seem too affected by what could have been. "You shouldn't have been threatening other orphans. If anything, I think you deserved it." She said.

Hood could feel sweat begin to form on her forehead. What's up with this girl?

"Well, you shouldn't have been eavesdropping on me." She snapped back.

Kay raised a chestnut eyebrow. "And you shouldn't be getting smart with me." She growled. "Especially in your position. Look at you. You're standing right on the edge of a staircase... Anything could happen..." Kay leant in close so she could whisper in her ear. "All it could take is one little push..." She giggled. "One little push and you could be popping daisies from underground!" The brunette was finding it hard to contain her laughter. "And they'll never know it was me who pushed you! They'll think you fell!"

Hood's eyes were almost on the verge of popping out. She could hear her heart beat drum loudly in her ears, and her limbs began to shake and tremble with fear.

"A-and you would t-take a human life? You'll be burdened! Y-you'll have blood on your hands!" She stammered.

"So? I'm not afraid of that." She began to grin widely, and through her teeth she tried to hold back a laugh. All Hood could do was shake and watch.

"They'll know you did it!" The blonde yelled. "L will know! He'll figure it out! And do you really think everyone would believe you if you said otherwise?" She argued.

Kay's grin was wiped off her face. "I've had enough of you." She grabbed on the younger girls collar and raised her off the ground.

"What do you have against me!" Hood struggled, trying to break out of Kay's grip, but coming unsuccessful.

"I saw. You're trying to get everyone against me!" The brunette hissed. "You're trying to steal A from me!"

'_What? We've spoken _once! _Is _this_ what this is about?'_

"You're crazy! I barely know him!"

"He trusts you more than I!" By now, Kay was shaking Hood around. "Why!" She hadn't noticed that her eyes had began to water up.

"You're overreacting!" Hood yelled. "All this is silly!"

"No!" Kay tried to stop shaking Hood. She took a breath. "You don't understand. He doesn't trust anybody. _No one!_ Not even me and I've been his friend longer than you've been able to talk! And I saw your conversation with him... He let you see him cry! He told you to be careful! _He acted like he cared about you, and you've only been here for 3 days!"_

"This is stupid. Please, just put me down and we'll talk this over maturely." The blonde tried to reason, but sadly, K wouldn't hear of it.

"Shut up!" She yelled. She was just beginning getting ready and warmed up enough to throw her down the stairs.

Hood swore that her heart was going to explode. She clenched her eyes shut and whispered; _I'm coming, mum.'_

But nothing happened. She heard another voice.

"Oi! What's going on here!" Someone yelled... Could it be...?

Kay's whole body stopped movement and she felt her heart crawl into her mouth.

"Oh, Backup!" She greeted nervously, trying to keep _some_ cheer in her voice.

B grabbed K by the collar on the back of her shirt, and pulled her down. The brunette tumbled to the floor.

Hood, realising her freedom, tried to crawl away from the girl who tried to kill her. Her legs felt heavy and shaky; she kept falling, and found it extremely hard to move.

"B-Backup! We were j-just playing a game!" The older girl began to unreassuringly nod her head. "W-we were just having some fun, is all! Right, Hood?" Through false cheeriness, she gave the blonde a hard stare.

Hood was sitting, back pressed against the wall, as far away as she could get from her attempted murderer. "Apart from the fact that you wanted to kill me!" She tried to sound strong, but couldn't help that her voice wobbled at every word.

K tried to stand, but B pressed his bare foot in the centre of her chest. "I don't think you're going anywhere." He growled. Kay layed on the ground; frozen out of fear.

Backup could be quite the scary (_extremely)_ scary kid when he wanted to be. _(or all the time)_

"Kay, everyone is sick of you. Go fuck off. Stop annoying A, stop annoying L, stop annoying _me_ and stop trying to kill Hood!"

Obligingly, the girl nodded, but B did not release her.

"Hey, H, are you alright?" He asked.

H, that was new. It wasn't any better than Hood; actually, it was worse. She didn't like it and frowned upon being called.

"I-I'm ok, Backup." She replied. Now it was his turn to frown.

"I'd rather B."

"I'd rather Hood."

He briefly nodded and turned his attention to K, who was being awfully quiet.

"Hood is under my protection now. If I find her with _one_ little scratch, on any part of her body, I'll make sure you know I've found it. Even if it wasn't you who caused the damage." He explained bitterly.

Kay's eyes had widened horrendously. "Y-you can't be serious!"

"But I am." He sneered. He leant down, pressing her arms to the ground with his knees. He pulled something out from his waistband; a knife.

Hood nearly felt her jaw drop as she watched him pull open her shirt and began to carve something on her chest.

The brunettes screams were muffled by his hand. Even when she tried to bite him, he didn't respond to the pain.

On the last letter of the message he was giving her, he dragged the knife down, so it pierced the skin all the way down her breast, and stopped right where her bra began.

He grinned at his handy work. "Consider this a warning and a reminder for the rest of your life." He told her.

Hood sat dumbfounded when he let her go. She jumped to her feet sobbing, and pulled her shirt over the cuts he made. The blood already had soaked the article of clothing like a sponge dropped in water.

Backup turned to the blonde. Hood suddenly remembered where she was, and realised that this was not some cheap horror movie or some joke they were both in on. He was going to hurt her!

She tried her best attempts to crawl away when he began to slowly walk to her as her limbs were not yet in full function. She dragged herself across the floorboards, just trying to get away from the red eyed, black haired creep with a bloodied knife.

She was finding it hard to move; her whole body was in a heavy state of shock. It almost reminded her of the time when-

Her thoughts were sliced in 4 when a large, warm hand grabbed at her ankle.

She immediately stopped. She began to feel sick and felt as if she was going to throw up, but didn't.

With quick, strong flexes, Backup pulled her towards him.

The blonde screamed and tried to dig her fingernails into the wooden floorboards, but gained no grip. B dragged her right underneath him and flipped her onto her back.

The blonde was so scared she couldn't move. She could feel his body heat over hers. His disturbing, unnatural eyes that were almost as red as blood and almost as mysterious as a shadow in a dark alleyway absorbed her blue, going on grey eyes.

"Why no screaming? You did it gladly when I dragged you to me." He chided.

Hood could feel her whole body soak with cold sweat. At least 3 chills were pulled down her spine as he spoke so softly, so gently, even though he meant harm.

"Oh well... Haylee Heartley." He smirked.

Hood's mouth fell open, and the shaking of her limbs became more noticeable.

"Yo-you knew my name." She said quietly.

"Of course. I know everyone's names." He laughed, gently pressing his cool blade against her lip.

Hood refrained from saying anything.

"You're under my protection now... I guess I should give you my business card..." His smirk turned into a grin when he forcefully turned her on her stomach and lifted up her jacket and shirt, exposing the tender flesh of her back.

Hood let out a breathy gasp as she felt the point of his blade poke into her skin.

"And let me just say, this one, _you'll never lose._" He laughed, holding the knife in deeper, so it was guaranteed that his mark would not be just a scratch that will heal over in a couple of days.

The blonde screamed, as she realised he wasn't just going to cut something small in her back. He was using the whole space! Like her body was a canvas!

"Shh, shh! No time for screaming now... You shouldn't waste your energy, no one will hear you. Everyone is outside!" He told her, finishing the last few cuts and slices.

He wiped his knife on her bloodied jacket and placed it back in his waistband. His hands, face, neck, hair, and shirt had drops and splatters of her oozing blood, which had began to dry already.

"Now, if you were older, I'd help you clean up. I'm going to let you do that yourself, for now. But just remember; I own you."

**I decided I shall leave it here :D **

**What a lovely bonding scene that was XD I'd like that thank everyone who reviewed last chapter =^-^= Thankyou guys :D**

**And 'Ghost' Inspired one of my readers to write a BBxOC story; **_**Chosen**_**, by **_**My Lipstick Tastes Like Jam**_

**You should check it out :D **

**Ok, thanks for reading =^-^= And don't forget to review! :D I want to ask nicely, but I don't know how else to do it;**

**If I get at least 5 reviews from you guys, I'll update quicker :D **


	11. Bathe

**Hello there :D This feels like a late update to me, sorry guys :P but maybe thats because I didn't have access to my laptop for 6 days! D: During those 6 days, all I wanted to do was write this story! I'm really liking it at the moment :D haha**

**Well, I have my laptop back and After this update I'm hoping to make it up to you by making another update by the end of the week!**

_Chapter 11: Bathe_

The bathroom door was opened carefully without sound as Hood, in slow shuffles entered in the vicinity.

The knife wounds on her back were pulsing and throbbing. She wasn't sure whether it had stopped bleeding, or not yet but spared no thought on it; all she wanted to do was clean herself, wash all this blood away, wash away her fear and tension that had secretly built up inside her heart.

The blonde scanned the area subtly, barely lifting her head at all, to see if any other orphan was in here. If there were, the girl decided that she'd just leave and go back to her room. Lucky for her, it was empty.

She slowly stepped across the dark brown floorboards and reached out, turning the tap on. The spout shot out clear, cold water which pooled in the basin, soon sucked up by the gurgling drain in the centre. The gurgling sounded like somebody was choking. It was very loud and lasted a long time. It was cringe worthy, but it was a sound that Hood had to get used to.

She held a hand in the waterfall from the tap, waiting for it to heat up as she stared at her reflection in the mirror before her.

Her hair was a mess; a result from all the crawling around on the floor and trying to escape peoples death grips. Thick strands of blonde hair fell over her face from her usual ponytail.

Her face was covered in red blotches and her eyes were puffy and stung. Her cheeks were tear stained and her skin was deathly pale.

She took deep, heavy breathes and attempted to peel her blood stained pullover and shirt off. She didn't doubt that her clothing had stuck themselves on her wounds.

She gasped and bit her tongue from making any louder noises. Her idea was spot on. Quickly, she dropped the items of clothing onto the floor.

The cold air made her cuts feel worse. The throbbing became stronger, as did the stinging.

She couldn't see the colours of her jacket and shirt anymore. All it was, was just red from the blood and brown after the results of it drying.

She turned her back to the mirror while trying to keep her head where it was before, so she could see what he did to her.

Deep indents were slashed all over her back. The cuts were everywhere. There wasn't one single spot that wasn't covered in either a cut or blood. As she stared, she couldn't seem to make out such a pattern of any sort. His _'business'_ card as he liked to call it was just an excuse to hurt her, not that she hadn't already figured that much out, anyway.

She turned the taps off after splashing warm water on her face, and not bothering to dry it, she turned to the showers.

There were 5 shower cubicles in the bathroom. 5 for 4 girls, leaving one spare for the next girl to come along. It was quite rare and unheard of for a new orphan to begin attending the orphanage unless L or Watari themselves took a particular interest in the child.

Why was Hood chosen? She was nothing special. The only reason why she got such outstanding grades at her primary school before her mother died was not such a good thing. She'd rather chew her arms off then ever think of it again but some things you couldn't avoid thinking about.

The blonde didn't particularly want to shower, but that didn't mean she didn't want to be cleansed. She remembered when she was younger she used to have baths. She used to soak in exquisite pink and white strawberry scented bubbles. She even made fake Santa beards with them for laughs.

"I wonder..." She thought aloud.

She wondered if they even _had_ bath tubs here. The bathroom was actually particularly big and would it really be that surprising to find a whole row of them? No, probably not and it wouldn't hurt to explore the area, either.

So Hood did just that and discovered immediately that behind the shower cubicles was a narrow pathway that led into a dark room.

Very carefully, Hood edged closer and closer to the nape of the doorway, and soon, nothing was seen beyond that point. She squinted her eyes, trying to focus her vision on some sort of object, but saw none.

The blonde warily stepped into the room and felt an uncomfortable chill crawl down her spine. She tried to shiver it off but felt another.

She felt the wall besides her for a light switch of some sort. Her fingers slid across the smooth wall until they hit the old, plastic, dust coated switch panel. She flicked the button and the lights above her flickered bright yellow fake sun shine. Hood sheathed her eyes until she grew accustomed.

The walls of the room that she had found were windowless and covered in tiles, (much like the bathroom) and the floors were still dark brown wooden boards.

Along the back wall, were 3 off white bathtubs that were quite obviously caked in dust.

The blonde cracked a smile at her discovery. At least _something_ finally went her way.

Her steps were quick, fuelled with excitement. The pain from the cuts were pushed right at the back of her mind.

She went to the tub in the middle of the other two with a smile. She peered inside the hollowed out centre, as soon as she did, she stopped in her tracks and stood as still as a stone sculpture, carved on her face was the mix of shock and horror. She could feel her body begin to tremble and her eyes widened while holding in a scream.

Spiders.

There wasn't one _bit_ of white... Just _brown spiders!_ Big, fat hairy ones with long, thick, gangly legs! There were literally layers of them! They were all climbing on top of each other, trying to reach the top of the pecking order.

She didn't want to make a scene by screaming out _spiders_ again. It may have been an empty room, and the orphans may be outside, leaving the orphanage interior dead quiet, (so quiet she could actually _hear_ the spiders crawl) but she did not want to disturb this eerie peace.

She covered her mouth and turned to the tap, to see if she could drown them out of the tub, but as she reached for it, a handful of Huntsman spiders seemed to know what she was going to do, and ran onto the knob. The blonde quickly retracted her hand in shock to this second discovery of intelligent bugs.

She took a step away and the back of her knees hit the edge of the cold bathtub. Even colder drops of sweat began to roll down her face as her heart pace increased.

Even after standing there for a few minutes, this rush of shock adrenaline hadn't melted away. She could still feel strange chills down her spine, she was still in cold sweat and her stomach was tightening. It was nuts to say she was comfortable in there, but as stubborn as she was, she wouldn't shower after this discovery, she'd bathe. Dust or not, _spiders_ or not.

The blonde leaned on the edge of the bathtub, closing her eyes. _'There are no spiders here. None at all. This is _England._ Its too cold.'_ She chanted.

A few deep breaths later, she opened her eyes. The room, somehow, was even quieter than before.

"There are no spiders here. It's far too cold." She said to herself firmly.

When she finished speaking, the hairs on the back of her neck rose. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw somebody standing by the doorway. The blonde turned around in a blurred flash.

Nothing.

She took another deep breath. "Just my imagination." She whispered, but as she said this, she felt a strong pressure on her chest, actually pushing the air out of her lungs. Before she could respond, the pressure on her chest grew and the blonde fell backwards into the spider infested tub with a yelp.

Xanthus had needed to go to the toilet really badly for the past 5 minutes, but Zero hadn't wanted her to leave the tree. Zero had a perfectly good view of where Backup usually liked to hang out by himself. He wasn't there for once, but Zero didn't exactly want to stick around and wait.

He remembered the last time he was by himself, Backup came up, and found it funny to knock him out and hang him by the ankles upside down on the tree with a thick piece of rope. Zero had woken up early, thankfully. If he hadn't, there was a high chance he could have been killed.

But Xanthus had to go.

As she had only just opened up the door to the girls bathrooms, that's when she heard it. The yelp, which Xanthus knew was coming from Hood's mouth.

Xanthus knew that Hood had found the old bathtub room. Only dare devils, (like K) would wander in there by themselves. Xanthus had heard stories and rumors about weird things seen in there but she never really believed in hauntings and such but she wouldn't exactly be the first person to stick her head in there, especially in the dark.

The girl with the white-blonde hair jogged in, trying to put to the back of her mind that she _badly_ needed to use the toilet.

On the floor before her feet, underneath one of the sinks, were two blood stained items of clothing. A jacket and a shirt. She felt her jaw gape and her heart beat quicken.

"_Oh shit!" _She hissed and ran through the narrow gap between the wall and the shower cubicles.

The room was pitch black; she could not at all see any sort of shape at all, but she could hear struggling.

"Hood!" She yelled. "Where are you?"

Hood tried to respond, but something was holding her down, pressing against her chest and not letting her breathe. She could not see a thing. Her vision had long gone and she hadn't even noticed it happening.

She could feel _hands_ holding her neck. They weren't warm or soft like normal hands were. It was like cold air had taken on the shape of them. If this was the air, then why was it so heavy? It felt like someone- a _person_ was sitting on her chest.

Could this be the orphan that's been following her around? Now this stalker wants her dead? Why?

Xanthus bravely ran into the room, taking many deep breaths. She knew if there was nobody actually in here, she'd be screwed but that wasn't what she wanted to be thinking. She tried to keep at the top of her mind that there was someone _in here,_ in this pitch black, scary room needing help.

The platinum blonde haired girl ran her hands over the wall and quickly found the light switch.

A large pressure suddenly lifted off the younger girls chest, along with the empty hands. She struggled to breath and was loudly gasping for air.

Xanthus, despite her legs feeling like jelly from entering the feared room ran over to Hood, stumbling on the way.

"Hood!"

Hood wanted to answer but there was no air in her lungs. She tried to sit up but could barely move. She knew it was Xanthus. Xanthus must have been the one stalking her. She knew that all the kindness she gave her was too good to be true; it always was with the least expected people.

Xanthus reached in and grabbed Hood by the shoulders and sat her on the rim of the tub.

"What happened here?" She exclaimed.

Hood was still in shock. Her breath was short and her heart was hammering against her rib cage to the point of pain. The adrenaline that flowed through her blood stream made her limbs shake and the pain from the cuts on her back was long forgotten.

Xanthus could obviously tell this girl was still recovering from shock. She was a patient person and was willing to wait until the younger girl was ready to speak.

"Hood, you're cold!" She noted. "_Freezing!"_ Xanthus let go of her carefully, making sure that she wouldn't fall backwards.

She attempted to wipe her now cold hands on her jeans, but as she was about to, she noticed the blood that caked her palms. Xanthus jumped into the air, in her own shock as her eyes bulged behind her glasses.

"You're bleeding!" She squeaked and manoeuvred Hood to see her bare back, which was covered in blood and deep cuts. Xanthus felt herself grow limp. "Who did this to you?"

Earlier, the words Xanthus were speaking were flying over Hood's head, but this particular sentence was picked up on.

With a sharp gaze, Hood yelled. "Leave me!" Her voice was rough with anger. "Go!"

Xanthus almost looked scared, but that emotion was wiped off her porcelain face with another form of shock.

"Hood..." She began slowly. "Are you alright?"

Hood shoved the older girl off her. Xanthus nearly _flew_ backwards. Her head hit the edge of the bathtub behind her and a dull throb began to thump at the back of her head, along with hot, sticky liquid, staining her perfectly natural and almost white hair. Xanthus almost let go of her bladder right then and there as Hood rose from her seat.

"GET OUT!" She screamed.

And then she let go. Too scared to be embarrassed, Xanthus _jumped_ to her feet and _ran_ out.

Left alone in the room, Hood fell to the floor limply in a daze as her vision suddenly grew foggy. She could feel a migraine pulling in as her skull suddenly felt too small to fit her brain in. Hood screamed in agony and suddenly gagged.

Weakly, she lifted herself off the ground, mid gag. She dropped her upper body over the edge of one of the bathtubs. She gagged one more time before the contents of her stomach spilled out her mouth. And by that, I mean _everything._

After what seemed like hours of agony, she finally stopped. She wiped her face on the back of her hand, but left her tears. She turned on the taps and washed everything down the dusty drain hole.

With the cool water, she washed her hands and her face and washed her mouth out but just water by itself wasn't enough to remove the disgusting taste on her tongue.

After all her vomit was washed down the drain hole, she found a dust cake of a plug sitting on the edge of the tub. She ran it under the water for a few seconds to clean it the plugged up the drain with it.

She began to fill the tub with warm water and waited patiently until it was full. She didn't care if she nearly was killed in this room. She doubted Xanthus would come back.

But what fuelled her to go this far? Why would Xanthus try to kill her? What had Hood ever done to her?

...

Well, she was rude to her, that's one thing... that could be the reason and this girl could be mentally ill...

But that doesn't explain the spiders, though. Hood found it hard to believe they were just hallucinations. _They were real._ Hood would even swear on the bible that she did not imagine them.

She turned the taps off and peeled the remainder of her clothes off. She stepped in the tub and was very careful when she attempted to sit.

She gasped as the water had finally met with the wounds on her back. They began to sting again. Hood tried hard not to make a sound but instead winced as she finally fell in the tub.

The blood on her back washed off and into the water, staining it red but the blonde didn't care. She focused on relaxing and waiting for the pain to dull down.

Eventually after several long minutes of waiting, it did dull. Hood sighed, closed her eyes and leant back in the warm water.

.-.

Beyond, leaning on a wall in a dark corner pulled a red lolly pop from his mouth. He smirked.

'_She really is brave.'_ He thought, darting his tongue out and licking his lolly.

**Wooo! Isn't that just dandy :P lol!**

**Ok I think it'd be nice if I got at least 5 review preeettyyy plleeeaasee ^-^**

**Arrigato goisamasu for reading :D**


	12. Ashes

_Chapter 12: Ashes_

After a prolonged bath time in the dim lit room, which contained no windows and a lot of dust, Hood finally decided that maybe _now_ would be a good time to get up and out.

She wasn't sure of how long she'd stayed in there for, at least an hour, or more, she'd guess.

The water was tinted with a rusty brown after it soaked the most of the blood that caked her back clean off. On top of that, it was beginning to get cold.

The blonde grudgingly dragged herself out of her relaxed state and opened her eyes.

Her pupils narrowed to adjust to the light exposure, causing her vision to go blank for a few seconds before dim orange light coated every object in the room easily.

Hood had grown a distaste for the such dim lighting that happened to be in every room in the orphanage. It gave off quite an eerie effect, because it was only the majority of the room which was lit, the corners and far walls were faded into pools of darkness, which could be hiding anything.  
Bugs... Spiders... People...  
Anything.

The blonde gripped the sides of the tub and hauled herself into a standing position. The water coating her body slid and splashed back into the hollow of the bath, making loud _splosh_ noises.

She stepped out carefully, trying to be careful not to slip over on the water she splashed on the cold tiles. The cold air began to raise the hairs on her body and make her grow goose bumps. Hood shivered slightly, and lifted her other leg out. She stayed still for a couple of seconds before reaching back in the tub to pull the plug out.

The terrible mixture of blood and water began to drown into the drain, erupting loud gurgling, even choking sounds. They were horrible, and even caused the girl to cringe and grind her teeth together.

She turned, and placed on the rim of the bathtub next to hers was a fresh folded towel and new clothes. She picked the towel up and wrapped it around her wet body, before it registered in her mind, that she _had not put them there._

The towel was white and soft... It felt new under her fingers and dried her upon touch.

The clothes were sitting neatly besides where she found the towel.

"How did these get in here?" She whispered harshly, and quickly turned her head to the narrow entrance to see if anybody was there.  
No one.

She looked around the room with a sharp gaze, but found nothing.

Carefully, she picked each item of clothing up with her thumb and forefinger.

A pair of dark blue jeans which she recognised as her own. Underwear was hidden under them and then a black hoody.

"I don't own_ this_..." She muttered curiously and picked the material up.

The jacket was at least three times her size and covering the whole back, was a red Chinese dragon that curved into two _S_'s put together.

Hood didn't know how anybody would have been able to sneak in here and put in some new clothes and towel without her notice, especially on the tub _next_ to hers. She ruled out Xanthus, because she knew she wouldn't come back, but obviously someone did, and it just dug deeper into the mystery. Narrowing her eyes, she decided to make it her mission to find out who had been following her, and nothing was going to stop her until she found out who this orphan was.

She snatched the clothes off the edge of the tub in her arms and stormed out of the room and through the narrow entrance. Finding herself in the bathroom, she was confronted by her appearance in the three extra large mirrors that nearly reached the ceiling.

Underneath her eyes were dark pink bags caused from the lack of sleep these past few days and her eyes were bloodshot. Her hair was stringy and looked like it needed a good wash and all together, she looked ill from the lack of colour her face held.

Remembering the throbbing of her back wounds, she turned it to the mirror to see the damage Backup had caused her.

She couldn't see much, taking on the fact that her head couldn't turn 360 degrees, but what she could see shocked her as her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped.

Carved in thick, ugly cuts on her back was the rough, old English 'B'.

She whimpered a bit out of shock, but continued to stare at it, knowing it was going to scar.

"This can't be real." She whispered. "He's marked me as his."

And there was no doubt that he hadn't.

Quickly, before any other orphan could come in and see it, she pulled on her jeans and the mysterious hoody that served more as a mid thigh length dress on her. She went on a search around the floors of the bathroom for her blood stained clothes that she had discarded on the ground a long time ago, but seemingly couldn't find them.

Xanthus wouldn't have taken them... Would she? She might have as revenge for making her piss herself... But... No. For some reason, Hood doubted it.

She swore under her breath. She _needed_ to find them. What if another orphan found them? They'd tell Roger, and Roger would confront her. If he confronted her, he'd interrogate her. She didn't want that. She hated being asked questions.

Hood left the bathroom just as Kay had walked in. The brunette glanced at her, then averted her gaze by looking at the ground. She walked into one of the toilet cubicles quickly and slammed the door.

.-.-.

Using a rough sponge, Beyond scrubbed himself under the scalding hot water of the shower. His hands and arms were covered in blood, while his face had a few splatters. His body smelt of copper and turps, and he needed it to leave _now. _

He didn't care that he felt like his skin was going to peel off at the bone or anything, he just continued scrubbing off the blood that had stained his pale skin. Moreover, he was worried about his face then his hands, but he had to be sure. He even scrubbed under his fingernails, washed his hair, behind his ears and even in between his toes.

After an hour, he deemed himself clean enough to turn the taps off, but he needed to clean the floor of any blood that may not have washed down the drain, or if the shower cubicle caught the scent he had carried in the humid steam.

He reached over and pulled off a white towel from the hook on the door and rubbed at his thick black hair until it was damp, then dried his body. He pulled on his jeans and a thin black tee shirt.

He tied his hair back using the tie around his wrist and grabbed the spare sponge, which he hadn't touched the whole hour he showered. He dampened it under the shower head and scrubbed at the old white tiles on the floor and on the walls. He washed the sponge under the shower head again and then began wiping down the pipes and then the shower knobs.

Next to where he kept his clothes was a plastic bag which he had brought with him. He threw both of the sponges plus the towel in there. He pulled out his hair tie and dumped it on top of the towel. He tied the bag up by the handles and slowly opened up the door. He poked his head out to see that no one was in the bathroom.

He came out and climbed onto the sink. He reached up to the ceiling and pushed up a wooden board before throwing the plastic bag inside. He jumped down and tried to fix his appearance in the mirror a bit.

First, he began to play with his hair. He ran his fingers through it, trying to work the knots out and neaten it. After he spent fifteen minutes on it, he styled it the way he usually had it, which was fairly similar to the way L had it. He did this by teasing it and fluffing it, which all together took nearly an hour to get every strand and lock perfect.

Next was his makeup. All he needed was white foundation and black eye shadow and eye liner. He kept them in his front two pockets so he didn't have to travel to his room and back just to get them.

He dug his hand in his left pocket and pulled out a round, flat cylinder shaped container. He twisted the lid and pulled it off, pulling the pad out and smearing the off white makeup all over his face and neck, not that it made a big difference to his skin tone at all.

Next was to work around his blood red eyes. In his right pocket was charcoal eyeliner and eye shadow. He grabbed the eye pencil first, and traced around the edges of his eyes thickly.

Now was the eye shadow. He wiped it thickly under the eyeliner and on his eyelids. As he put the makeup back in his pockets... He knew he was a copy of L. He hated it. He hated L... He even hated himself...

He clenched his teeth and gritted his palms until the skin on his knuckles pulled white.

Growling at himself in the mirror, he spat at his appearance and left.

.-.-.

Crowded in the middle of the dorms hallway was Alternative, Zero, Xanthus, L and Roger.

The room smelt of turps and fire. The smell was so strong, it was even beginning to make Hood feel sick.

She made her way over, pushing past the orphans to see what all the commotion was about.

Her guess what that somebody had set the floorboards on fire, seeing how the ones she was walking by were blackened.

The orphans moved for her so she could see what they were looking at.  
Ashes.  
Ashes of what?

The orphans were murmuring amongst themselves, but Hood didn't bother to listen.

L was crouching besides the ashes, poking at them with the end of a pencil.

"It seems that these ashes are those of clothing..." He stated.

"L, only a real talent could have figured that out." Roger praised.

"I think anybody could." L replied.

"Oh, I don't know, L!"

"Yes, there's clothing tags. They wouldn't have burnt easily, according to the material they are made out of. Instead, they'd melt, but they are definitely tags."

"... Oh." Roger muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Who do think would have done it?"

"Well, what about the two orphans that aren't here right now? Kay and Backup." L began. "I'm going to rule out K, because she has no track record here, and it would be highly unusual for her to burn clothes according to her personality type. I think she'd shred them to pieces. My suspect is Backup because everyone knows he has a hobby of playing with things that aren't toys."

The other three orphans suddenly began to clap at L's conclusion and cheering him on.

Hood edged to the back of the group quietly.

L stood up from his crouch and left down the hallway, followed by Roger, Xanthus and Zero.

A was just about to follow until he saw Hood standing by herself, being careful not to lean on the wall so her wounds wouldn't begin to hurt again.

"Crowds aren't your thing, huh?" He guessed.

"Not really." She replied.

"Fair enough. I don't really like them either. I don't think L does either." He muttered.

"I don't think he likes a lot of things."

"No. I don't think so either..."

"Last time we spoke... Why did you tell me to be careful?" Hood asked calmly.

A looked back at the girls bedroom door, before turning back to her. He made a weak smile at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Don't worry, its silly."

Hood stayed silent, but continued to stare at him until she got the answer she wanted.

Somehow it worked on him.

"Ok. Fine, but you're going to call me crazy... I think that there is a... a _friend_ living in your room..."

"... A _friend?"_

A sighed. "Look, its stupid."

"Tell me."

"A... A ghost, ok?"

"..."

"You think I'm crazy, don't you." He deadpanned.

"No, not at all." Hood replied, cutting down on the sarcasm, trying not to sound too rude.

He rolled his eyes. "Alright, whatever. Just be careful... I'm going to go." He said. "Bye."

"Bye."

And he disappeared down the hallway, leaving Hood standing by herself.

"A ghost?" She repeated. "If there's a ghost living in my room, then my name is _Dandy_..." She muttered, and began to walk towards the stairs.

"Hood!" Somebody called out from behind her.

The blonde turned and saw Kay standing on the other end of the hallway. She waved her over and obligingly, she followed her command.

"Yes, K?" She answered, standing before the older girl.

K's eyes trailed to the ground. "Look... I want to apologise about before..."

"..."

"I'm really sorry... I hope we can be friends..."

"..." The first thought that came to Hoods mind was _'NO!'_

"Well... I know you won't forgive me... afterall, I nearly killed you... Well, I thought that maybe we could play a game... Y'know, like truth or dare... Or something..." She offered.

"... No."

Partly confused, Kay lifted her head from the ground and looked into Hood's eyes, who seemed quite serious about her answer.

"What?"

"I said no. I don't like you, so why would I want to play truth or dare with you." She snapped.

"Please, just one game."

"No."

"I won't ever bother you again if you do!"

"You sound pathetic."

"... Just one game. Its all I'm asking, and it'd make me feel at peace if you do."

Hood rolled her eyes. Kay really wasn't going to give up, was she? "Alright, fine. _One game._"

**WOO! My GOD! How long has it been since I've updated? AGES! I'M SO DAMN SORRY! D':**

**I just wasn't in the mood for writing, or anything! Everything that came out of my brain was crap and the first draft of this chapter was the worst! **

**Well, I updated and will be (hopefully) doing it regularly! My golly I hope I didn't lose any readers!**

**I love you guys! Come back!**

**Anyway... I'm still hoping for 5 reviews!**


	13. Games

**Why hello there, guys! I don't think I got my readers back :'( Oh well. I got a few new ones at least :)**

**Well, here is chapter 13, and guess what... 13 is an unlucky number! I wonder whats going to happen in this chapter? :D **

**Well, I left off where K asked Hood to play truth or dare with her! So it might have something to do with that :D lol!**

**Anyway, enjoy the latest chapter :)**

_Chapter 13: Games_

B left the bathroom, carefully closing the door behind him, making sure not to make a sound.

The door closed with an almost silent _click_ and he padded down the hallway bare footed, never turning his back.

L twisted his body so his shoulder would not smack into his identical successors sturdy one.

Despite the fact that B looked like an exact copy of L, he still looked different. He still had his flaws.

His darker skin tone showed out of his dead white makeup, and sometimes he didn't cover his whole face with it, which actually gave an eerie effect to his face, like a porcelain doll which had been dropped and face had cracked, but still held together.

His hair. In L's opinion, it was a bit overdone. The whole backside and left side were completely spiked in every direction with the help of teasing and by the looks of it; hair gel.

L's hair was different. For one, he did not have the need to use hair gel to get his hair the way it was, and it was only the left side which was spiked. Only a little on the back was spiked, but not the whole thing. The rest was flat and choppy.

His eye makeup. It was obvious. The thick, black rims under his eyes were solid. No fade, no purple. L's rims were actually an extremely dark purple, but they were so dark that they just looked black, the skin directly underneath them was a lighter shade of the colour.

His build. It was a lot sturdier then L's. L was thin; almost possibly underweight. He was slightly toned, but that was all. Beyond's, on the other hand. Well, he was a bit more then toned, as he supported a few visible muscles. Sometimes he hid them behind a long sleeved baggy shirt, black or white, or sometimes he'd show them off with a black body hugging tee.

And then there was something truly obvious, which anybody would notice: Most people don't try to observe Beyond's flaws against L's, they just state to themselves that they are completely identical, bar one feature, and that brings us to his eyes.

Unnatural, blood red iris's.

Nobody understood _why_ they were red. They just assumed that he wore contacts to get attention. But L knew the truth. Yes, they weren't human eyes. They were something more. The eyes of a demon. A shinigami. A god of death. They allowed him to see more then the average human. Names. Numbers. Dates. Identities.

L faded out of his thoughts of B's flaws, appearance wise to find himself at the door of the bathroom.

Opening the door, he was confronted with the strong, sickening smell of soap. The chemical smell made his eyes water and his throat go dry.

'_Obviously B's done something he's trying to hide.'_ He thought, taking a cautious step in, feeling the humid air inside the bathroom heat him up and make him feel even more light headed then what he normally felt, which was due to his growing insomnia.

L found that it was fairly obvious which shower stall his successor used. He could see white, hot steam still pouring out of one of them, which was located right by the wall at the end of the row and he doubted anyone else was in here, because the other two boys he saw were standing right beside him only minutes ago, plus, L was the first to leave. It was not humanly possible for them to get to the bathroom before him.

Silently, L wandered over to the steamy closed door. Using the back of his hand, he wiped the sweat off his forehead. He needn't bother knocking on the door, so he pushed it wide open.

White hot water splattered and splashed and poured out onto the tiles, out of the old porcelain showerhead.

Being careful not to get splashed on by the boiling hot water, L edged in and around the edges.

As he got closer to the too-hot-shower that was ready for him, he winced as his bare feet were caught under the spray of burning water. Quickly, he reached his arm over to the shower knobs. Just as the tips of his fingers lay on them, he quickly drew back in pain. The shower knobs were hot. _Really hot._ His two fingers began to throb in pain, but despite it, he drew his arm out again and quickly turned the knobs off. The water rush died down until all that was left was just a few drops of water dripping out of the head.

L left the cubicle, trying to ignore that his feet and hands and a few spots on his scalp and face were scolded. He tried not to let it slow him down.

L entered back into the bathroom, actually feeling cooled off after being overcome by the heat of the shower cubicle.

Right in front of him were the large mirrors that hung above the old ceramic basins. L's eyes widened as he stared at them.

The mirrors were fogged up and hid everything but white mist, but that wasn't what L was worried about.

Written clearly on the face of the mirror in dripping red was 'FUCK YOU L!' And underneath, someone had spat.

L stormed over, his eyes still as wide as dinner plates. Observing the writing, he felt an ice cold shiver run down his spine. These words were written in blood... But who's blood?

He was sure that this wasn't here before. No way. He would have noticed! Surely!

... Somebody must have entered while he was in the shower cubicle. Yes, L took his time trying not to get touched by the steaming water so that would have given this person plenty of time to do this.

Who would have done this...

L knew exactly who did it. Someone who held a permanent grudge against him. Some one who hated him to the point of insanity. Someone who hated him so much that they became him.

Beyond Birthday.

L ran out of the bathroom, shoving the door open. The door swung open widely and smacked A in the face as he was about to enter.

A lost his balance and collapsed on the ground.

"A! Where is B!" He demanded.

A frowned. No apology and the mention of B. Of course L was looking for B, why wouldn't he be?

"Why." He snarled sourly.

"Just don't go in the bathroom." L ordered. He knew A probably wouldn't tell him where B had gone to, whether he knew or not. A still was not quite over B, anyway, it'd only been a few days since the harsh breakup.

"Talk to Roger!" L called out, as he began to jog down the hallway. "He'll let you use his."

A watched L disappear down the hallway and stood from the wooden floor boards. Despite L's orders, he opened the bathroom door and entered.

.-.-.

"Ok... Would you like to go first?" Kay offered, leading Hood into her room and closing the door behind her.

The room had a good view of the sun at this time in the evening. The orange light shined brightly through the brown blinds that covered the window, coating everything in orange stripes.

Kay sat on her bed, a big smile on her lips.

"I hope we can start again and forget what happened earlier..."

Hood remembered how Kay basically attempted murder at the stair case, as had B... Or had B just wanted to injure her and that was it?

"..."

Kay darted her eyes away from the melancholy blonde standing by the bookcase which was located on the wall besides the door. The brunette rubbed the back of her neck and cleared her throat.

"Okay, again. Do you want first go?"

"Truth or dare?" The blonde hissed angrily.

"Truth." Kay smirked.

"Ok, I hate you."

Kay narrowed her eyes. "That's not how you play truth! You're supposed to ask me a question and I have to answer truthfully!"

"Did you know that I really, really don't like you?"

Kay sighed, rolling her eyes. "Yes." She groaned, then her lips twisted into a grin. "But... I hope that despite that _one, small fact..._ We can still be friends?"

Hood didn't bother answering her question. "Your turn."

"Truth or dare."

"Truth."

"You can't do that!" Kay argued. "I already picked truth so you have to pick dare!"

Hood grinded her teeth together. She knew how to play, and that certainly wasn't a rule or discussed prior to starting the game. "Fine. Dare."

Kay's grin twisted into a smirk. She began to chuckle to herself. The same kind of chuckle she gave at the stair case.

"I dare you to go into Backup's room and take something from him... like his knife... Yeah. Try not to get caught... He's been known to do crazy things if so..." She dared.

Hood clenched her jaw and fists. She could feel a vein pop in her head as her eyebrows shot down like arrows.

"You tricked me!" Hood accused.

Kay began to laugh. "So? You picked dare and I dared you! Now you _have_ to do it!"

"No I don't." The blonde answered slowly.

"You do, or you'll face the penalty!"

"And what is that?"

"I was hoping you'd ask..." Kay trailed off. "I'll frame you for bashing Xanthus... And then I'll bash you." She said seriously.

Hood's eyes widened in the slightest. "With what." She whispered, almost wishing she hadn't asked.

"My bat which I'm going to give to you if you do this dare for me..." Kay answered, lips twisting into a grin before she slid off her bed and pulled out a long, silver aluminium baseball bat from underneath.

"You wouldn't." Hood snarled.

Kay held the bat by the handle and using all of her arm muscle, jabbed Hood in the diaphragm with it before the girls next speech could register in her mind.

Hood's entire body fell forward. Kay winded her. The brunette pulled the bat from under her and the blonde fell to the ground, holding her stomach, coughing and trying to get her breath back. She tried to ignore the throbbing Kay had made her, as well as the wounds on her back which began to sting again.

After several minutes of trying to get her mind off the pain, Hood tried to lift herself back up, but Kay, with her thick trainers, kicked the younger girl in the ribs. Hood fell back down, biting her lip and trying to hide her tears from the attack.

"Get up." The brunette snarled. "Go and do your dare before I get too carried away and kill you before you get a chance."

Hood forced herself to stand, despite the mass amount of pain she was in. "Either way it'll end badly."She muttered.

Kay laughed out loud. "I'll give you that!" She said and Hood limped out, Kay following so this way, there was no chance of her skipping out on the dare.

Kay wrapped her arm around the girls body so her fingers were pressing into the side of her ribs where she kicked her. Hood whimpered at the pain.

"Shut up." Kay growled, pushing her fingers in further. "Backup's room is that one." She said, pointing diagonally opposite to her room.

The doorway looked exactly the same as everyone elses. Dark brown and course. The bedroom was located in quite a questionable spot though; it was next door to Hood's, as Hood's was exactly opposite the brunettes.

Hood nodded and began to limp off towards B's door.

"Oh, and Hood... Take your time." She giggled innocently.

Hood immediately regretted ever accepting her request to play truth or dare with her.

She reached out and touched the cool door knob. She took a deep breath and turned it then pushed it open.

The blonde closed the door behind her, feeling a deep heavy knot begin to tie at the pit of her stomach. She swallowed. Her breathing was already becoming fast.

The blonde looked around and decided to look in his desk drawer first.

.-.

Carrying a full plastic bag, Beyond wandered down the hallway, headed to his dorm room.

He was surprised that L hadn't caught on yet and found him, or maybe L wasn't bothered and just washed his little message off the mirror.

B turned a corner a his eyes darted in front of him in attention as he heard someone clear there throat.

He shot the girl a grin which did not at all look or feel friendly.

The person trying to get his attention ignored the chills down their spine.

"There's an intruder in your room."

.-.-

Finding nothing in his desk drawer but study papers and nothing in his underwear drawer but... _underwear..._ Hood decided to maybe look into B's wardrobe on the opposite side of the room.

She wandered over the wooden floorboards, trying to be as careful as possible not to make a sound.

She stood before the doors of it, and already she was feeling nervous and could feel that knot at the pit of her stomach begin to tighten.

She tried to steady her fast, heavy breathing and her shaking limbs as she reached out to grab onto the handle.

.-.

A permanent scowl on his face, B forced his way past the orphan who told him the information.

With quick steps he stormed angrily through the long hallway to get to his waiting bedroom.

.-.

Hood closed her eyes tightly and pulled open both cupboard doors. She was greeted by stale air which breezed out, right into her face and choked her. She tried to hold in a cough, but as much as she tried, it just came out.

She froze in her spot, not even breathing. She could hear her heart hammering in her ears and her breath was shuddering.

Hearing nothing in return, she slowly opened her eyes, being cautious with her breathing and movement.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten." She whispered to herself while staring inside the wardrobe, which housed no clothes at all. On the floor of the cupboard were ten, small white boxes and against the wall of it, nailed on were ten straw dolls... Better known as 'Wara Ningyo'... Japanese curse dolls.

.-.

Beyond entered the dorms hallway and powerwalked straight past A, not even exchanging a glance with him.

A felt his heart ache sadly and shuffled into his room.

.-.

Hood's immediate thoughts were that she had discovered something that she shouldn't have.

She felt scared. Honestly.

She was scared to find out what was hidden in those 10 white boxes. They'd have to have something to do with those dolls.

With shaking hands, she reached down and grabbed one of the boxes that was piled on top.

The box felt heavy in her hand and was about two times bigger than it. Taking a deep, heavy and shaky breath, she stuck her fingers under the lid and began to slowly lift it up.

.-.

Beyond grabbed onto the door handle and pulled it open.

Hood quickly turned and saw the door open. Backup hadn't entered yet and the door blocked the view of the wardrobe. The girl immediately felt like led, and even moving was impossible for her.

Beyond slammed the door closed and looked around with sharp, red eyes.

"Where are you?" He growled. "Show yourself." He fell on his knees and looked under his bed, finding nothing.

Hood peered through the crack in between the doors of the wardrobe she hid in.

It was an extremely cramped space and her cut up back with a carved in 'B' was pushed right into the ten Wara Ningyo. She put the pain to the back of her mind. What was more important was staying still.

She watched as Backup climbed back to his feet from looking under the bed and his head turned over to the wardrobe she was hiding in.

The blonde immediately felt her heart stop.

Slowly and rather intimidatingly, he walked over to his wardrobe. A large smirk on his features.

"You don't have to hide from me..." He chided.

Hood was not breathing at all. Her whole body was shaking out of fear and her heart was hammering against her ribcage.

Beyond reached forward to grab onto the handles of the wardrobe.

Hood clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth.

With two flexes from both arms, he pulled the cupboard doors opened and Hood fell forward, bringing the ten boxes with her, having Beyond cushion her landing.

**And guess what... Its a cliff hanger :)**

**Looks like this story is finally getting somewhere, aye? Haha :)**

**Thank you so much for everyone who reviewed last chapter, it really means a lot!**

**Anyway.. Could I please have at least 5 reviews? Pretty please? :) I'll update quicker and won't wait a month! :)**


	14. Pets

**Why hello, there readers :) Heheh I'm pretty happy that I got a few new readers plus a couple of old ones :D Thanks so much for sticking with me guys, even though I've been a bit slack lately XDD**

**Oh well, at least I've gotten back into regular patterns...**

**Anyway, I've realised that I've forgotten to do the disclaimer for the past few chapters:**

**Disclaimer: Beyond's and L's asses belong to me! **

**... Not bad... XDD**

**Previously:**

_With two flexes from both arms, he pulled the cupboard doors opened and Hood fell forward, bringing the ten boxes with her, having Beyond cushion her landing._

_.-.-._

_Chapter 14:_

Scrawled on the mirror in drying blood, were the words;

_FUCK YOU_

_L_

A could barely see his appearance with the mirror, despite the fact that most of the fog had cleared. Behind the graffiti, he could partially see his face. He watched as his lips twisted into a smug grin. His hands began to tremble, and the teen burst out laughing.

.-.-.

Her senses were blocked by the strong, sickening smell of dust and... Was that jam?

Hood had landed roughly on Backups hard chest, along with ten white boxes which fell on her back and no doubt opened on her. That was probably the supplier of all the dust she was nearly choking on.

On his heart beat, he began to speak:

"What are you doing in here?" He said.

His voice wasn't chiding her, nor was it angry. It was calm... enough. But with her ear pressed against his chest, his voice sounded deeper, heavier and dangerous.

Hood's heartbeat began to raise higher. She could feel the organ rattling against her ribcage. It was hurting her and she felt as though her breathing had stopped. Trying to take a deep breath was one of the most painful things that she had to occur that day, for her. Especially because right beneath her body was the body of a psycho.

"Please... Don't hurt me." She whispered, slowly clenching her eyes shut and gritting her teeth.

Trying not to laugh, Beyond tried to keep his mouth in a firm line but the ends of his lips twisted upwards.

.-.-.

Standing outside his door, Kay was grinning like a maniac. She was trying to imagine what was going on in there.

She tried to imagine B cutting Hood up again... mutilating her...

She then remembered the message he carved on her chest... How it throbbed...

_You_

_Are_

_Nothing_

It was a reminder of how worthless she really was. How _pathetic_ she was.

She didn't care. She already knew it.

.-.-.

"You are my property. I can hurt you whenever I feel like it." Backups hands grabbed onto her forearms tightly.

Hood whimpered and tried to free herself in vain but his grip only tightened. She wriggled and pulled but alas, his hands were wrapped around her forearms firmly to the point of pain.

Even yelling out '_Let go!'_ wouldn't do anything, and yes, she had tried. This only made the teen laugh.

Beyond's hands snapped to her head. He weaved his fingers in her blonde hair and pulled her sideways until her back smashed into the ground and his legs were wrapped around her waist. He leaned in close and forced her to stare dead into his blood red irises.

"What. Are. You. Doing here?" He growled.

The blonde felt the hair raise on the back of her neck. She felt something jab into her cut up back and kicked at ribs. The pain had immediately been forgotten as more fear had began to build up and replace it.

"K-K-Kay." Hood managed.

Backup leaned back, but kept his critical eye on her.

"What about Kay?"

Hood didn't reply. She stared right over his shoulder with wide eyes.

"Backup! Look out!" She screamed, but before she could finish her sentence, it was too late. Kay swung her aluminium bat at the black haired teen.

Hearing no crack, no contact between a skull and a piece of metal, Hood remained shaking out of shock. Kay had missed. Backup jumped to his feet, gripping onto the end of her bat.

Him being a male, he supported more body strength then her.

Using both hands, he swung the end of the bat he grabbed hold of and Kay slid across the room, never daring to let go of the handle.

Beyond pulled the bat towards himself, then pushed it out, letting go as Kay stumbled backwards, losing her footing and falling on the ground.

The bat fell forward quickly, and before any thought could register in her mind, it cracked against her forehead. Everything went black.

Standing back over the blonde, he held a hand out for her to grab so he could lift her to her feet.

Hood refused to take it. She could get up by herself. She pushed it away and rolled on her stomach. She tried to haul herself up by her arm strength by levering herself up, but her arms were too shaky and she could not keep them still.

Beyond watched with amusement as she battled herself to stand. Her limbs were too pumped with adrenaline to let her function properly.

Hood was in the push up position, except that her lower half was pressed against the floor.

She'd finally gotten her shoulders off the ground, but as she had, she saw something underneath her body.

It was stained yellow and thicker then a tooth pick. It was long and sharp...

'_Is that... a...'_

Before she could finish her thought, her arms, all of a sudden, just lost balance and she fell back to the ground.

Beyond sighed and lifted her up, by wrapping his arms around her small waist.

As she got to her feet, she still could not stand properly. For some reason, Beyond allowed her to lean on him until she pushed him away from her.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Why? You weren't complaining before when I was on top of you..."

"I was _scared!"_

Beyond smirked.

"No! I mean, I was in shock!"

"Sure. You loved it." He chuckled playfully.

"You're sick." She growled and attempted to walk away from him, towards the door so she could leave.

That was until she felt a rough force grab her from behind and smash her to the wall.

Backup no longer looked playful. His expression was hardened.

"If you tell anyone about this. I'll kill you."

Hood's eye brows suddenly knitted together. "What?"

He harshly gripped his fingers in his hair and dragged her back over to the wardrobe where littered underneath it was 10 white boxes with their contents scattered all over the floor.

Bones.

"Take a good look!" He growled. "This could be you next!"

Animal bones?

Falling to his knees and dragging her with him by the hair, he forced her to look at them closely.

"This was my pet rabbit." Using his other hand, he picked up a yellow skull and shoved it right under her wet blue eyes. "I didn't have him for long. I played around with him a bit too much... and I wanted to see if animals could survive for long if you skinned them... I guess not." He laughed.

"Please let me go."

"I haven't introduced you to my cat, yet... Do you like cats?" He asked, picking up another skull that was littered closest to Hood.

"Let me go!"

"Her name was Liv. Rather _ironic_, don't you think?" He laughed. "I wanted to see how well she'd function without her whiskers, ears and tail... She died of blood loss soon afterwards." He shook his head, and patted the skull lovingly.

"I had a puppy somewhere around here too... I don't know where he's run off to!" Another laugh. "I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten far, anyway... I cut his paws off."

"No. No. No. _No. No!" _Hood cried. "Let me go! I hate you!"

"And the rest... These were other peoples pets that I found on the street. Some were birds, _a lot were cats." _

"Please. For the love of god.. Please let me go." She whispered. "Please. Please. Please. I won't tell anybody... I promise." She squeaked.

"Of course I'll let you go. But under one condition. You're mine... But I want you to accept it. I own you and I can do whatever I want to you. Whether I kill you or rape you-"

The girl shuddered at the 'R' word.

"You have to accept it. Accept that your life is nothing."

'_No. NO! NO! NO, NO!' _

"Yes." She answered.

'_NO!'_

Beyond smirked. "Are you sure? There is an easy way out..." He began. His hand slid in the waist band of his jeans.

Hood's eyes widened. "NO!" She screamed. "PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!"

And he pulled out his silver knife... Part of her relaxed.

Flicking his wrist, the blade slid out smoothly. "What else did you think I was going to do? Rape you?" He laughed. "I don't rape ten year olds."

Yet he didn't deny that he raped.

"I'll be 11 next month." Hood had no clue on what possessed her to even _mention_ this.

Beyond began to laugh, but had said nothing else. He reached out and grabbed her wrist.

As he did this, his long sleeve lifted to reveal a long, blood stained bandage that crawled up the majority of his arm.

"Your wrists are clean." He commented.

"_What?"_

"Absolutely no scar tissue. No self inflicted damage and no accidental damage... You're a perfect canvas."

Hood gulped back a thick lump of saliva. "What do you mean?" She whispered.

"It means that all of your scars are mine. Every last one of them will be from me and me only."

"Bac- B, are you going to kill me?"

"Not at this moment," He began, seeming to stare right over her head. "Its not your time, Haylee."

Suddenly, it felt the world had just stopped right at that second. Hood's breathing had even taken a pause.

"Oh, I get it. You still don't understand how I know your name."

"No." Hood's words sounded monotonous, but that was certainly not how she felt.

His finger tapped underneath his eye. "This is my natural colour. I don't wear contacts. Every time I look over someone's head, my vision goes as read as blood... The same colour as my iris."

Hood failed to see what that had to do with anything. "Why only when you look over someones head?"

"I'll tell you when your older." He laughed and Hood scowled. "But... I suppose that it isn't fair that I know your name yet do have no clue what mine is... My name is Beyond Birthday." He told her. "Just call me B or Beyond. _And of you _ever_ call me that dreaded _'Backup'_ again, I will _personally, _fucking _rip_ each one of your fingers _out of their _fucking_ sockets!" He snapped, pulling on her fingers to the point of pain.

Hood tried to pry her fingers out of his grip, but he continued to pull, and then...

_Crack!_

Hood's eyes widened and welled with tears. Beyond quickly let go of her hand.

"Whoops, sorry. I think I dislocated your finger." Grabbing her hand again, he gripped the swollen appendage.

"Sorry my ass." She muttered, biting back the tears.

This certainly has been a most painful few days for her. This pain wasn't as half as bad as what she had already experienced so it was easier to hold back.

"Easily fixed." He said and forced her finger backwards. With a loud yelp of pain, followed, was another _crack._ "All done." He let go of her hand and she quickly slid it back to herself. Limply.

"Please. Can I leave yet, _Beyond?"_

"No."

Hood's eyes widened. "C'mon! I've been here for ages! Aren't people going to start wondering where I am?"

"They think that your sick." He said. "You me and Kay are supposed to be in class right now. Kay is knocked out and you are with me. There a animal bones all over my floor... And that's _your fault,_ so shouldn't we do something about this whole _jam_ that we're in?"

He was partially right.

"Fine. What do I have to do?"

"Well, first we have to dispose of Kay."

Kay was quite heavy for Hood. Beyond had done most of the carrying.

After a few minutes, they dropped her in her bed and closed her blinds. Beyond decided to give Hood her bat. He had no use for it and Kay is just one of those people that you should not give _any_ potential weapons to. What so ever... Besides Beyond.

B snatched the key to her door off her desk and locked it from the outside as the two left.

"Do you think she'd going to remember anything?" Hood asked.

"Probably not. A blow to the head like that is enough to give her temporary or maybe permanent amnesia. The odds for permanent are quite low, though. When she wakes, she won't know the difference between blood and water. Her memories will be triggered or remembered sooner or later, but sometimes people with amnesia never have them triggered and are forgotten forever."

Hood nodded, taking in the information carefully. "But that doesn't mean she'll forget what she's seen..."

"No. But I have methods to get her not to talk." He smirked.

The blonde shuddered, trusting that sentence with ease.

"What do we do next?"

"Bury the bones."

**Bahahah! What a terrible chapter that turned out to be! XDD**

**Anyway... There were no supernatural encounters in this chapter, either... There will be some soon... I hope... Grr this story is turning more into a psycho thriller/horror then a supernatural horror ... *evil eye***

**I hope you guys don't mind, though... :/**

**Ok.. Could I please get at least 5 reviews? ^.^ I'll update quicker~**


	15. Snow

**Why hello there ;D **

**Last chapter seemed to have focused more on Beyond and Hood. Yes, we do need more chapters like that otherwise this story wouldn't be going anywhere! **

**I also think that we've left some of the other characters in the dark for too long as well. There's Zero, which we know **_**nothing**_** about... There is Xanthus but she has had more dialogue than Z. There's Kay but we've all had enough of her! So that leaves A! **

**We know what L's like... But there will be some L action in soon... Hopefully ;D lol, I'm sure there will be. **

**But, I don't think anyone would ever get sick of good 'ol B! **

**Disclaimer: Do **_**you **_** lick it like a lollypop? I do... Lollypops I mean XDD **

**Wow.. That disclaimer seemed to have nothing to do with Disclaiming Death Note... Then again, none of my disclaimers do! XDD LOL**

_Chapter 15: Snow_

Beyond had informed Hood to collect each and every bone that was scattered across the cold wooden floorboards of his room as punishment for learning about his secret... _One_ of his secrets.

He was not going to allow himself to help her in any way. It was all for his own amusement anyway. He found it quite hilarious to watch her cringe and screw up her face, (as if she had been sucking on a lemon) each time she lifted up another and another bone from the ground.

The way she picked it up was quite particular and similar to the way L holds everything; in between the tips of his thumb and forefinger. She had this movement under her belt quite quickly and could almost imitate it as well as L, B noted carefully.

He'd always had an eye for detail.

'_Ha ha.' _Was Beyond's sarcastic laugh which he had forced to keep in his mind.

Hood was down to the last few bones (which looked like ribs) spread out on the floor.

She grimaced and squatted while picking up the piece gingerly between her two fingers and dropping it in the pile of bones stacked inside the box. The bone clattered against the others and the blonde felt herself cringe.

'_Note to self: Disinfect hands! Don't want to get _sick!' Her brain screamed.

Beyond watched patiently as she began to pick up the few remaining bones.

She was crouched; her knees pressed right against her chest. Quite similar to how L does it. She would only dare to pick things up between her thumb and forefinger as if it were diseased; just like L. Her facial features nearly had some sort of resemblance too.. Well, actually it was just her pale skin; not nearly as pale and see through as L's, as Beyond could not see her dark blue veins pulsating rich, red blood through her weak, frail system... Underneath her eyes were dark pink bags. They were most definitely not even close to being as swollen and dark as L's, but she had them.

Beyond shook his head as he realised he was staring; glad that Hood had not noticed otherwise she may get the wrong idea.

"Hood!"

The girl clenched her eyes. It had been nearly a full two weeks, yet that name had not grown on her, even in the slightest.

"What." She groaned. "I'm almost finished." She muttered soon after.

"Sitting like that will hurt your back."

The blonde gave him a side glance. _"Why do you care..."_ She spoke under her breath, almost too quiet for Beyond's ears, but he heard it.

'_I don't.' _He replied in his mind. _'I just don't want you poorly imitating L. I don't want to see it.'_

"Because you are my new pet." He smirked.

Hood's release on what she thought was a jaw bone dropped to the floor. The bone did not break but her barriers did. She felt her heart beat completely stop in its tracks as her eyes widened and she began to feel a cold sweat begin to ooze down her forehead and make her palms clammy. Each and every hair on her body had raised and stood on end.

Quite obviously, she did not like the sound of that.

"_What?" _She breathed.

"You heard me."He replied. "You're my pet. Wasn't it part of the deal that you'd accept it and I'd let you leave?"

"Well you haven't let go of me yet."

"You'll still get to see the light of day again... Unless you find it more comfortable in my wardrobe..."

The girl shuddered, remembering the 10 'Wara Ningyo' nailed inside.

"No thanks... _Master."_ She added rudely.

Beyond raised an eyebrow as the corner of his lip twisted upwards into a deep smirk.

"_Master?_" He repeated, seeming to be measuring it on his tongue. His eyes rolled upwards as his smirk turned into a grin which could have given the Cheshire Cat a run for its money. "I quite like the sound of that..."

Hood's eyes narrowed. "If you think I'm going to call you that from now on... You're nuts."

Beyond's rough laugh erupted in the space of the room. "You're right... I am nuts..."

The blond rolled her eyes angrily and spotted something behind his desk. She stood from her crouch and began to wander towards it.

Beyond watched quietly as she bent down to retrieve whatever her eyes had layed upon.

Her nimble hands placed themselves upon something smooth as quite rounded. She could not see quite what it was until she began to pull the object towards herself.

A loud gasp burst from he lungs and she felt her hands go numb. What she was holding was yet another skull. The skull of a dog. Could this be that other pet that belonged to Beyond?

"Ah, there he is!" Beyond sang. "He was a good reliable boy in his time." The psychotic teen mused. "Sometimes I find myself missing him... That's a rather strange feeling... I've never missed any_body_ or any_thing_ before..."

The blonde found that quite believable, as she had already began to believe he was a bit of a sociopath.

Beyond laughed. "Maybe that's because he helped me track down the other animals I found on the street!"

'_Yep.'_ She tried to shake off all feeling of nervousness that was building inside of her. To her dismay, it would not leave.

She dropped the dogs' skull into the box and pressed the lid upon it.

"Ok, do you think it's time to bury it yet?" She asked, receiving a nod from the teen.

...

The two exited the large oaken double doors of Wammy's into the yard.

The air was cool and even caused the blonde to shiver. Beyond made no reaction to the cool air and he was wearing less then she was. Thinking about that, the blonde suddenly remembered the strange jacket that was left for her. On its behind was a large red Chinese dragon sewed on, covered the length of her back.

She wrapped her arms around her chest in a vain effort to keep warm while following Beyond to wherever he might be taking her.

He was leading her right across the football field, past the swing they had fought over when they first met and eventually past the tree right at the back where she first caught a glimpse of Zero and Xanthus.

The blonde scowled at remembered Xanthus. _The stalker._ The one who had tormented her in secret. _Why?_ Was there no reason? Hood barely knew her, the same with Xanthus.

Dark blue orbs followed from the sky and downwards at a floating white flake. The flake fluttered gracefully through the windy air and eventually took landing in Beyond's ebony hair.

Snow. So _cold_ yet so beautiful. Each flake is individual, just like a fingerprint.

Beyond had led her into a clearing inside what seemed to be a forest of trees. Hood hadn't even noticed how far they had gone on account of being lost in her own thoughts.

Beyond's shoulders had caught a few more pieces of snow, as had his hair since she had snapped back into reality. She wondered how many had landed on her.

Beyond noticed the snow flakes on his shoulders after he realised what the blonde was staring at. He brushed them off and they limply fell to the frosted grass beneath their shoes.

He'd brought a spade with him and Hood had brought along the box of bones.

"We are going to bury all of the animals here. If we ever leave this orphanage, we are to unsheathe it from its earthy grave and take it with us."

_Us._ Did that mean Hood was forced to spend the rest of her life with him? She wasn't sure if she liked the sound of that.

The blonde nodded at her 'master's' orders.

"We don't want anybody to find it... Like Roger_._ Like _L."_ He growled.

Beyond fell to his knees and began to shovel into the cold, wet, and solid earth with his small spade. Watching for a few seconds, Hood turned her head and tried to figure out which way they had came to get here in the clearing.

Beyond noticed this. "Haylee." He said, successfully grabbing her attention.

The blonde made an internal growl at him. She had no clue as to how he knew her name and he was not willing to tell her, which pissed her off even more. He made it obvious that it had something to do with his eyes, but what?

"Yes, Beyond?"

"The others will be coming out soon. Class will be over in less then 10 minutes so you better get down on all fours and help me make this hole deep enough for it not to be discovered."

Sighing, she fell onto her knees and dug her fingers into the cool earth, pulling out large clumps of dirt and throwing them besides the forming hole.

Beyond had worked with more vigour than she had. He didn't care that he was losing his breath from the speed and depth he was digging at; he just kept going.

...

"Is it deep enough yet?" Hood asked after several minutes of pulling dirt clumps out and scraping her fingers against hardened clay inside the earth.

Beyond nearly couldn't resist making a 'That's what she said' joke but forced himself not to. "Why don't you stick your head in and find out for yourself?" He offered.

The blonde glared at him and picked up the box besides her and dropped it inside the hole. She quickly began to drop those clumps of dirt back on it and Beyond knocked his dirt pile in and they filled the hole with ease.

Patting down the now soft dirt so it will harden quicker, the two realised how much snow had built up around them and their newly filled hole. Beyond decided to take this to his advantage and began to layer the thick white frost over it. The only disadvantage, he realised, was that they both had to cover their tracks, now. And that was going to be a big job.

**... Finished. This chapter was quite easy to write, though.**

**Nothing scary happened, but I'm going to make something that interests you guys in what I hope to be the next chapter.**

**I actually hope you enjoy reading this more than I had, but hey, I actually put **_**some**_** detail in, at least :D lol!**

**I noticed that my writing was becoming more and more flawed as chapters went on, so I decided to make up for it and hope it doesn't happen again XDD**

**Ok.. Could I please have at least 5 reviews? Pretty please with sugar on top? :3**


	16. Out Of Place

**Hi guys! Sorry for the uber late update... I have restrictions on my computer now because apparently I'm rather antisocial... Its not that, its just that I don't talk a lot! *evil eye***

**OK! Looks like there seemed to be some fun in the last chapter? A bit sick though, right? I may have even turned a few readers off from reading this fic! XDD ***_**cough Keilea cough cough**_*****

**I should do the disclaimer, shouldn't I? ...**

**Disclaimer: I own the rights to Beyond and his jam! The rights are in my back pocket of my other pair of jeans!**

_Chapter 16: Out Of Place_

The two had left the clearing in as much haste as possible, as they still had the treacherous job of covering their tracks. The only tracks that they needed to cover were the ones following them out of the area as the snow had not completely started yet. The two were constantly turning around and brushing over the foot prints they left until there wasn't even an uneven lump of snow to even give a clue that someone was even there to begin with.

Hood's hands were rawed red and so numb that they hurt. She wasn't allowed to bury them deeply in the mysterious jumper that she wore, either. When she had, she was scolded by her 'master' that they had an urgent job to attend to. Covering tracks.

"I hate snow..." Beyond commented, brushing and rubbing his shoe prints away from the snow.

When Hood hadn't replied, Beyond looked up at her.

"Hood, it's polite to share your opinion on someone's comment when they speak, y'know."

'_What? So he's giving me etiquette lessons now?'_ The blonde dared not growl this in his face.

"Fine." She muttered. "If my opinion is really that important to you."

"Oh, its not." Beyond laughed.

The girl held back the urge to punch him in the throat. "..." She continued to hide her tracks under the thick layers of the beautiful snow.

His laughter was cut a little too unnaturally as they finally, after what seemed like forever, left the clearing and entered the forest of trees. Curiously, the blonde turned her head to him in wonder.

His lips were twisted downwards in a scowl and his fists were clenched.

"I think someone followed us." He said a _little bit_ too calmly. He turned to the blonde. "Or you."

The blondes eyes widened. "Not again." She whispered. Beyond couldn't help but smirk.

"'Not again'?" He repeated.

The blonde stared down at the tracks that went towards the clearing and seemed to have stopped right where they were standing. Right in the fringe of the trees, so whoever had followed them would have been able to spy on them in secret to find out what they were doing.

The shoe prints were unidentifiable, as they left no pattern and no unique markings in the snow.

To Hood's shock, Beyond fell to his hands and knees to observed them closely; crawling on all fours to observe the next and the next. She had thought that he had far too much pride, too much _dignity_ to even _do_ something as weird as that, but then again... It was Beyond, he was quite a strange person when it came down to it.

"Look." He stated, twisting his head in an almost unnatural, sickening way. Hood wandered towards him and stood over his body to see what he was pointing to. Perhaps a clue to who was stalking her this time...

The only possible suspect would have to be K, but Hood was pretty sure she would not be able to leave her room; Beyond had locked it and taken the key. Xanthus; who had most likely attacked her in the bathroom was in class, and so were the others.

That left L. L didn't attend class, did he? Thinking about it, Hood had never once seen him in any class. Another two thoughts; L never wore shoes and was barely ever seen outside...

That didn't mean that he didn't _own_ a pair of shoes though, or stayed inside _all_ of the time...?

"What am I looking at?" The blonde asked.

"Come join me, you'll be able to see clearer for yourself."

Stupidly, the blonde looked around to obviously see no one. "You mean get down on my arms and legs?"

"Yes."

Obligingly, she did as her 'master' told her to.

She felt a cool shiver chilling her bones in this new position.

"I still don't see what I'm looking at..." The blonde muttered. "There's nothing here."

"Exactly." Beyond replied. The blonde cringed at the feeling of his breath blow down her neck. "Doesn't it strike you as odd that there are absolutely _no_ patterns here?"

So now he's playing detective?

"A little." Hood slowly began to remember A's words.

"_I think that... you have a... a friend..." _A friend... _"A ghost."_

A ghost... Could the foot prints belong to... a ghost? It sounded too... too stupid. Too unbelievable! The blonde shook her head... She wondered why she would even _consider_ remembering something like that.

.-.-.

Lying on his bed in the dark, A was trying to block out any thought that he had of Backup, but it was so... _hard._ His mind kept reverting back to his white, porcelain, perfect face and his eyes... His eyes filled with blood. Blood so _cold_ it would make a penguin shiver.

And then his body... His body... His skin was as white as ivory... Absolutely no tan lines... That he knew of... His muscles... He had them, and sometimes he liked to make sure people knew he had them... Thin body hugging black shirts...

The brunette felt a slight smile crawl against the corners of his lips.

He looked better without the shirt.

A remembered suddenly when they could have nearly _done_ it... But Backup would not let him get that far. A had take all his clothing off and he let Backup do things to him... A would have let Backup do anything he wanted to him... When A wanted to return the favour afterwards, B wouldn't let him take his jeans off for him. When A assumed that B wanted to take them off himself, he let him, but... Backup didn't want to go that far. He never removed his jeans and walked out of the room, leaving A completely naked by himself with a hard-on.

"B... You're so mean..." A muttered uncomfortably. "You're not even here and I'm already hard."

He was wearing jeans, and everyone knows that when a guy is wearing jeans when he's turned on... It hurts... A lot.

He sighed and began to undo them and pull them down before throwing them off the side of his bed. After that he pulled his tee shirt off and lay back down on the bed in his boxers.

"I hate you..." He said, aiming it at B (who was not there, or knew what was going on) but he was staring at his erection poking upwards.

'_Dammit.'_ He wished that B would just magically come in and help him get rid of it. But he knew that that was never going to happen. A bit of him refused to deal with it himself, so the only other option was to have a cold shower so the blood flow to his 'appendage' would head to other places... Like back to his head. But he could not leave his room like this. Not with a blood pumped _dick_.

.-.-.

As the blonde began to head down the corridor by herself (as Beyond had long left her) she felt a cold shiver caress down her spine. She tried her best to ignore it and hope it'd fade, but as she edged closer to her room... If just felt that that it was getting stronger...

Hood exhaled shakily and wrapped her arms across her chest. She stopped in her tracks in surprise as her breath came out as a plume of mist. She held her hand out in front of her mouth and blew into it. A cool gust of air was felt against it.

'_The window must be opened.'_ She dismissed.

/_"A... ghost..."/ _

Hood shook her head. _'It's not a ghost.'_

The blonde opened up her bedroom door and immediately, she knew something was different. She could feel as though somebody had been in here and left a foreign scent, only there was no scent.

Hood entered the room and closed the door carefully behind her. She kept her steps cautious and slow.

Her eyes travelled to the centre of her bed and her heart stopped on beat with a sharp jolt and ache and her stomach began to turn and turn and turn, feeling tighter each time, along with her chest as she suddenly could _not_ breathe.

Sitting in the middle of her lace clothed pillow was a skull.

The skull of an animal. A dog. _Beyond's_ dog.

She had not even _contemplated_ screaming or panicking anymore as she bolted out of the room, slamming the door behind her, not caring if it actually closed or not and ran to Beyond's door next to hers, only less than a metre away. She began to pound her fists and kick her feet against the panelling.

"_BACKUP!"_ She screamed. _"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"_

The door did not open, and she did not hear his voice.

Xanthus and Zero were staring at her from a distance, whispering and muttering but that was all.

Hood turned around, her eyes widened and filled with disturbance.

"Where is he?" She growled.

Xanthus's face went white and she entered her bedroom behind her and slammed the door. All that was left was Zero, who was actually _shocked_ at Xanthus's action.

"Where is he?" She repeated.

"I-I don't know!" Zero answered.

He'd seen the dragon on that black jacket once before in his life, and no doubt Xanthus hadn't. He'd seen Backup wear it before. Its not likely that Hood has the same jacket, especially one that was two times bigger than her... And now she's looking for him? That could mean only one thing...

The black haired teen looked around. "Look. I'd love to help but I really have to go." He said and power walked away from her.

Hood growled and punched B's door. She drew back her fist as it began to bleed and decided that maybe he'd left the door unlocked, so she looked around, (finding no one, obviously) and grabbed the cold door knob. She took a deep breath, knowing that in this place she could get in trouble for 'breaking and entering' despite that she hadn't broken anything... That's if the door is unlocked, of course.

Taking another breath, she pushed the door opened, and to her surprise, it was unlocked.

She fell forwards inside the room as she hadn't even realised that she had been pressing her body weight against the door.

The room was cold and caused a shiver to run down her spine. As the blonde looked around shakily, knowing what could possibly happen if Beyond had caught her in here. If anything, it wouldn't be good. She just thanked whatever the hell was up there in the sky that he actually wasn't in the room when she 'broke' in.

As she looked at his desk and on his bookshelf, she noted how everything was so... _Neat... _So tidy! It even looked as though that there wasn't even a speck of dust anywhere, and nothing seemed out of place. Its said that the state of the room can tell a lot about the person who lives in there's character. Hood turned and noticed that even his bedspread didn't even have a crease on it, nor did his pillows. In fact, his pillow cases looked like they had been dipped in starch a couple of times... And maybe he used an ironer on his bed sheets...

Hood shook her head to remove the pointless thoughts going through her mind. Obviously there was no reason for her to be in Beyond's room because he wasn't actually _in _here, so the blonde decided that she should probably leave.

As she began to head towards the opened, gaping mouth of the door, something from the corner of her eye had caught her attention. A large black book which looked like it had just been thrown to the floor... It looked as though it didn't belong there, because everything else was just so neatly _packed_ away.

She decided that it wouldn't do any harm just to put it on a table or anything, because at least then it wouldn't look so out of place.

The blonde cautiously walked over to the book, still on alert if Beyond just so happened to come by, see his door opened and a stranger inside... Despite the fact that she was still his 'pet'.

If the girl clenched both of her fists and put them together, then this would be approximately the thickness of the book on the floor. She bent down to pick it up, sooner than later realising how heavy it actually was... And he probably considered this _light reading!_

She dumped the heavy book onto his creaseless bed sheets with a bit of a thump which caused her glance to shoot back to the empty doorway before coming back and laying her eyes curiously on the book.

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Merry Christmas (even though it was yesterday for me! XD) Happy New Years and Happy Holidays! Lol**

**It would be your Christmas present from you to me if I got at least 5 reviews :) and my Christmas present to you is to try and update as fast as I can :D**


	17. Hate

**OMGZZZ ITS 2011! HAPPEH NEW YEAARRSSS!**

**Haha wow, 17 chapters and nearly 100 reviews :D AWESOME! XD **

**Ok so I've drawn some artwork of Hood and some of the other characters! I've posted to Deviant Art my pic of Hood and I'll be searching my bedroom (which looks like a bomb hit it) for the other piece which has my first design of Hood, A, Xanthus, Kay and Zero! **

**I'll be putting links on my profile soon for the artworks, and I've got some of my REALLY old stuff of my first few Oc's (Brae, Nalia, Tazer ) up there as well! On my DA profile I've got heaps of fanart of Beyond up there too for you fan girls ;) lol**

**As I'm writing this chapter, I have a song in my head... It is (drumroll) Forgotten, By Linkin Park from the album Hybrid Theory ;) I wonder if it'll effect my writing in any way... Nah XD**

_Chapter 17: _

"I hate you." A spat, staring daggers at his erection.

"Thanks. I hate you too."

A blinked, half shocked at the reply. _'Don't be stupid. It's not your _cock_ someone is here! Shit.'_

The brunette turned his head to the doorway and felt his heart stop. He jumped back, and fell off his bed in the small space in between the wall and his mattress with a hard thump on the wooden floorboards and banging the back of his head against the hard plastering under the window frame.

"If I cared for you than anymore than I do already, which isn't much, I'd ask if you're ok." The intruder continued.

"I'm fine." A replied sharply. _'I hope he didn't notice my... problem...'_ He thought, as his entire face grew rosy.

"You don't seem ok. You seemed to be rather turned on before you saw me. Now you look scared." He grinned widely, completely showing all of his perfect teeth. His eyes were glinting brightly with the minimal light in the room and his dark hair stayed completely in place, despite the faint breeze.

"You don't sound surprised."

"Of course not."

B. That bastard. What was he doing in here?

"What the hell do you think you're doing in here? I never let you in! I left the door locked!"

Out of his back pocket, B pulled out a key. "You're friend Kay _kindly_ let me borrow her key."

"Huh?"

"That's right. She had a copy of everyone's bedroom keys. Even mine. I took them all, including hers. She probably has more, though." He chuckled darkly. "And that girl Hood only thought I was taking Kay's bedroom key and that was it."

'_How?'_ Thought the brunette. "What the hell were you doing with Hood? You weren't going to manipulate her like you did to me or-"

B stretched his arms and made himself comfortable on A's bed.

"B! She's fucking ten! _TEN!_ You make me sick."

Continuing to ignore him, Beyond layed down on the mattress and yawned, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Look at me you swine!" The brunette growled, standing to his feet and gripping onto Beyond's shoulders. The younger teens eyes were closed, but on his lips was a smirk. This had only made A angrier. "B!"

"Yes?" He replied.

"Look at me!"

And Beyond's red eyes were unsheathed from under his eyelids. The colour was dull with no light shining into them to make them look more alive. The brunette felt a chill run down his spine as he continued to stare.

"A... A... A... It seems that you are not yet quite over me... Well, you wouldn't be after I broke your heart, would you?" He chided.

The brunette felt his heart tighten on beat. _'Not yet.' _

"It's funny though. You were so in _love_ with me and here I was, _a swine,_" His eyes hardened "And felt nothing for you."

And then there was a hand squeezing the organ inside his chest with a clenched fist.

"I just used you."

Now his heart was feeling like it was going to burst from the pressure of the metaphoric fist.

"And you thought I at least had _some_ small sort of feeling for you..." Then B began to laugh. "Well I didn't."

A's fingernails began to dig into the other teens shoulders as he could feel his eyes wetting and tears begin to roll down his cheeks and land on Beyond's empty emotioned face.

"I hate you!" A yelled. "I hate you! Why the fuck did you come here?"

B managed a shrug. "So we could catch up. I haven't spoken to you in quite some time."

A's arms were beginning to feel weak but he continued to sob. "What's wrong with you?"

B's eyes shifted away from A's with surprisingly a small flash of emotion before it disappeared into stone.

"What is wrong with you?" He continued. "I hate you. I hate your guts! I wish you'd die!"

B gripped onto A's wrists tightly. The brunette winced and tried to pull away but Beyond wouldn't let him leave. His emotions were no longer hidden behind a brick wall as anger had infiltrated every pit and core of his body.

"You know what, A?" He growled. "_Everything._ Everything is wrong with me. Are you happy? Are you _fucking satisfied?"_ His grip began to tighten. A was scared. He knew of what B was capable of. He'd never seen it but he knew of what he could do if he wanted to.

A's heart began to pound sharply against his chest. As he tried to ignore every form of pain he was experiencing. B tugged harshly on A's arms (so they felt like they were going be ripped out of there sockets) and before there faces clashed, the teen on the bed gripped his fingers into A's hair roughly. The teen winced.

"If I could show you how much I _hate_ you I fucking would! I'd make your life a living hell and make you wish you were never born. Unfortunately you were. Instead of me, how about _you_ go die. It'd make everyone elses life a lot easier without you around.  
Y'know, Watari and Roger only keep you here because they feel sorry for you. None of your family want anything to do with you because they wished that your lowlife parents just had the abortion and because no other orphanage or foster family would accept you."

"SHUT UP!" A screamed. "Just SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He began to pull away from B's grip but again came unsuccessful. "I hate you!" He tried to pry Beyond's fingers out of his hair again but had no luck. "I wish you would DIE!"

"Well, _Andy._ I'm not going anywhere." Beyond spat and A's movement stopped. His eyes widened and his body began to shake. "You've pissed me off too much!"

A began to sob again. "What's wrong with you..." He whispered. "Please leave..."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I have to show you how much I hate you. I have to make sure you'll always remember that you're just unwanted and unloved scum in this world. That it wouldn't make a difference in anyones life if you just suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth. No one will notice because no one will care."

"And you're just trash thats been thrown onto the sidewalk that people will just step on and ignore for the rest of your life."

Beyond smirked and slowly began to laugh. "No. That's you."

A gritted his teeth and his eyes widened with hate. Without even thinking, he spat onto B's face.

Now _that_ pissed him off.

It took a couple of seconds before A realised what he had done. His eyes basically bulged and his muscles grew numb and his jaw dropped. _'Shit.'_

B's fingers grabbed A's hair roughly as he pulled him to the bed. A fell on his mattress on his stomach just as B pressed his face into the bedding. Just enough to suffocate him completely.

A could feel all of Beyond's weight on the back of his head. The brunette couldn't breathe. His lungs were actually on the verge of exploding. He tried to struggle, hoping that something would happen and Beyond would let go but came most unsuccessful. Soon, A's limbs were feeling numb and could barely lift them, even as much as he tried. His eyelids were getting heavy and just as he closed them, he felt those fingers in his hair again. They pulled his head up and A opened his eyes widely.

He still was having struggles to breath. Backup had moved onto his back.

"I can't let you die _that_ quickly, can I?" He laughed.

A coughed as soon as he felt B's weight begin to lift from his body. B wiped A's spit from his cheek.

"I'm still angry at you." He said, just as A had finally began to breathe again, but hearing that made his heart stop.

"Please, B, no more! I'm sorry!" He begged. B turned his head to the side and began to laugh.

"Don't think that you're getting out of this easily." He growled, properly turning A onto his back. "Unfortunately, I didn't happen to bring my knife with me,"

A could have sighed in relief.

"So I'll have to punish you some other way."

There was no difference with whether B had his knife with him or not. He would find a brutal way to hurt you either way.

"Lets start with something you've obviously wanted me to do to you for a while..."

A's eyes widened. Oh. Shit.

Without another second to waste, B smashed his lips against A's, making sure to bruise them. (In expense for bruising his own)

The brunette was actually shocked. He wasn't expecting to be _kissed._ He was expecting more. He decided that _this_ wasn't such a bad punishment for spitting on him but A wasn't stupid. Knowing B, there'd be more to come.

B pulled his fingers into A's hair again. The teens scalp was already very sore from before but he tried to ignore the pain. A wrapped his hands around B's neck and B continued to kiss him. They were getting softer then what they started as and actually more enjoyable.

B smirked into the kiss. A must have been stupid, or something. He was _liking_ this, that meant B's idea had worked.

B pulled away and both boys took a breath.

"I'm so confused..." A trailed off. "You broke my heart, you told me you hate me, along with the rest of the world, and now... You kissed me?"

"I still hate you. I truly do. Y'know, the only thing I miss about our former relationship was being physical. I used to release stress on you and apparently I still am."

A bit his sore lip, refusing to speak. Resisting the urge to say something.

"And I am still angry. One kiss doesn't do anything. It means nothing and it does nothing." Beyond began to laugh. "And you were enjoying it."

The brunette blushed.

"Well I'm going to make you beg me to stop. And I won't stop, no matter how out of hand things will get."

.-.-.

Zero sped down the hallway away from Hood who was probably still banging on Backup's door.

He needed to stay away from anything that had to do with Backup. He didn't want to end up like-

Zero's thoughts stopped just as he walked past A's opened door and saw something out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't actually sure whether his mind was just playing tricks on him so he stopped and looked.

Nope. His mind definitely _was not _playing any sort of trick on him.

B was lying on top of A. His hands were pressing down his shoulders so he couldn't move. There lips were clashing.

'_Never would have thought that A is gay... With B, for some reason, it's no surprise.'_ He thought, shaking his head. He decided not to stand and watch. Staring at two guys making out on a bed did nothing for him so he headed down the stairs, wondering what would happen if Kay saw that. Everyone knew that she had a monster crush on him... He wondered how Hood would react. She obviously had something to do with B...

.-.

Little had Zero known, both teens on the bed knew he was there. They weren't making out, as it seemed. B was just using that as a cover. He was suffocating him with his mouth and tongue.

Zero hadn't noticed the thin line of blood oozing down the side of A's mouth, either. To explain that, B had actually been gnawing on his lips and cheeks to make it bleed for fun and so he could enjoy this more.

It wasn't the fact that they were kissing that made B enjoy this. It was the fact that there was a struggling body underneath him who had absolutely _no _control over what was going on whatsoever.

A's hands were trying to push B's face away from him but he was in a great disadvantage as he was in no position for power. B was much stronger in the long run, anyway.

The teen tried to block out the pain of his lips throbbing horribly. He just didn't realise that the main reason they were hurting was because Beyond had bitten them to oblivion and that his entire mouth was bleeding. B hadn't pulled away to show him that he was bleeding either because B knew his face was covered with A's blood.

The taste was rich, strong and hot. He loved the coppery flavour it left on the tip of his tongue and the feeling it left at the back of his throat. In his opinion it was better then some alcohols.  
No, Beyond Birthday was not a vampire. Beyond Birthday just had a fetish for blood. Blood and bondage.

**Hehehe no one knows yet what the heck that book Hood found is yet... But this chapter just states what the hell Beyond was doing at this time ;) I guess its just an evil filler :P And it still feels rather random and short... Oh well :)**

**Ok so I hope you enjoyed and could I at least have 5 reviews? :D**


	18. Why The Eyes?

**Hey there! I know its an extremely late update, but my summer holidays are coming to an end :'(**

**I'd like to make a shout out to **_**Bleachfans101! **_**She contacted me via DeviantArt and asked me permission to draw my characters! Of course, I was over the moon and accepted immediately, and she has drawn many art works of **_**Hood, **_**even some featured **_**A **_**and **_**Kay! **_**One even had **_**Beyond**_** in it! She has drawn **_**Brae**_** and **_**Nalia,**_ **as well! ^^ You should check out her DA account; **_**Bleachfangurl**_

**Oh, I guess from now on, I might as well tell everyone the songs I'm listening to at the top and bottom author's notes. At the moment, its **_**'Down In A Hole'**_** by **_**'Alice 'n' Chains'! **_**They are an awesome band from the 90's!**

**Disclaimer: Disclaiming Death Note and The LA BB Murder Cases ;) LOL JKS I don't have to, coz I'm Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata and Nisio Isin, genetically mutated into one! MWAHAHAHAH**

_Chapter 18: Why The Eyes?_

The book left a slight, grave feeling in the pit of her stomach. She twined her fingers together by her belly, unsure of what to do, whether it be to satisfy her curiosity or just leave before she is caught. She couldn't remove her eyes from it, not even for a second. It was so... so mysterious that if even she moved her sight from it, it could move! But, that theory was absolutely ridiculous.

... Would it be ok just to touch it? Just _one_ little touch to satisfy her curiosity... Would Beyond notice? That's the question... This book. This book emitted this strange, heavy feeling that just wouldn't leave her at all; she _had _to touch it... That's all she needed. Just one little tap.

Quickly, Hood checked the doorway again, only to find the entrance empty. She eyed the book once more. She bit her lip just as her hand began to edge towards it, and right before her fingers lightly grazed upon the cover, her chest began to tighten with a new want... Hood wanted to open this book. She wanted to see what was hidden on these pages, she wanted to know _why_ Beyond owned such a mysterious object.

Her fingers pried underneath the cover, and carefully she began to lift it. A thick, musty smell of age burst upon the opening of the book. It clogged her throat with dust and a bittersweet scent. She tried to clear it by swallowing. The first page was thin and yellowed; not to mention dog-eared from use. In thick calligraphy writing was a contents page written in another language; one that she could not recognise at all (Not that she knew many words away from English).

.-.-.

Beyond broke apart from A, wiping away from his purpled lips blood and remnants of saliva. A's face was stained with tears, his mouth was completely swollen, and throbbing harshly with his heart beat. He was too afraid to speak, so he watched as Beyond crawled off him in silence and head towards the door. He was barely even wearing his signature smirk.

The brunette felt a wave of nausea hit him like a bomb being dropped upon his head. His body soon became numb after only just a few seconds. Groggily, he shut his eyes and collapsed upon his mattress.

.-.-.

Curiosity engulfing more than just her mind, the blonde couldn't help but pick the giant, heavy book up. She stifled a groan as the weight of the book was passed on from the bed to her small arms, by pressing her lips together tightly. She felt drops of sweat begin to form upon her forehead and on the palms of her hands, making them feel rubbery, and making it harder for her to have a steady grip on the heavy book. Carefully, she turned each page, trying her hardest to not let the papers rub upon each other to make a noise.

Inside the book, were detailed illustrations of hideous creatures, with talons as long as an arm, and teeth as thick as brick and some with wings as buildings . There were red ink splashes on and around each, individual creature to represent blood adorning the creatures claws, teeth, and scales, feathers and fur.

Hood's fingers crept to the side of the book and dug her fingers into a section into the middle. She pulled the book open from that point and studied the page. The illustrations were just as hideous and as detailed as before. The red ink splashes were still included, but, for some reason... The ink quite obviously did not represent blood.

The eyes of this creature were carefully inked in red.

Why the eyes? What made them so special?

.-.

Beyond ducked his head low in an attempt to hide his mouth, despite the fact that his mouth was completely swollen. He'd already made a trip to the bathroom to wash the blood that stained his porcelain skin away from his chin. He'd replaced the make-up, applying a new layer over the purpled skin and fixed up his eye make-up along with it.

Now, his next stop was his room. He wondered if Hood had recovered much from the skulls.

.-.

The blonde hadn't at once learned that the sky was darkening or realised that curfew was coming extremely soon. She was fascinated by this book. Despite the fact that she could not understand the language at all, she decided to scan through the paragraphs that was on this creature. She wanted to see if there were any links, or any connections to the reason as to why the ink splashes adorned the eyes, instead of the blood, like all of the other pictures.

Any time that she even _thought _about _red_ itself, an image of Beyond's began to float into her mind.

_His dark, blood coloured eyes were hidden behind his mess of black hair. His pupils glowed vibrantly just as a sickening grin, filled with malice, began to overtake the entire width of his face. He brought his hand to his mouth; his fingers coated with oozing, ruby tinted liquid; otherwise known as blood. He poked his tongue out, and ran the entire length of his finger across it, collecting the blood with it._

"_Beyond._" She mumbled, barely thinking as she did so. Immediately, her heart stopped just after she had said this, as a loud scraping sound began to echo down the hallway. The sound was long and whiny, as if fingernails were running down a chalkboard; only worse. The sound was growing louder and louder each second. It was reaching volumes of a horrid, sickening peak. Hood quickly snapped her head to the doorway, eyes wide, heart beating wildly, blood pumping manically.

The sound continued, only growing horribly louder. Hood gritted her teeth harshly and tightly, to the point where it was begging to hurt, and she smashed her palms against her temples as this large, heavy and extremely painful throbbing feeling began to swell her brain. As she had done this, she dropped the book and with a loud thud, it smacked to the floor. She dared not make a move to pick it up; she was frozen to the spot.

The sound quickly grew to what she wished was top volume. The pain from inside of her head, which was only getting worse and the fact that she was gripping her teeth so hard, they felt like they were going to drop out caused her eyes to well up with tears.

The latch to Beyond's window was begging to shake violently, to the point to where the windows were threatening to burst out and explode. Shaking, Hood began to watch with wide eyes. Her mind was racing quickly: she couldn't even think, it was going that fast! Her jaw was slowly dropping, and suddenly the latch gave way and broke. The windows burst open and began shuttering aggressively against the window panels... There was no wind...

The screeching soon developed into what sounded like blood curdling _screaming_! It was running chills down her spine, prickling her skin and making her shake out of fear.

The blonde tried to move, but her feet felt like they were glued to the floorboards beneath her beaten up trainers. Her hands felt like they were adorned with lead weights, and each one of her fingers had no tendons to pull to even twitch them.

Hood swore that this screaming was going to burst her ear drums and melt her brain, but she wouldn't dare remove her eyes from the doorway. The noise were growing even louder, and all of a sudden, Hood could recognise what was being screamed. The word _'no.'. _The second she realised this, everything went quiet, and the windows stopped rattling.

All she could hear was her heart beat, violently whacking against her chest. She was sweating out adrenaline, and everything in her body began to shake from fear. Her eyes felt like they were going to pop out. She tried to take deep breathes to calm herself down.

Everything in the room was completely still. Nothing creaked. At all.

Her mind was still racing to the point where she still could not think.

Carefully, her body began to relax, but she still could not move much. Her breathing was completely shallow and it was hurting her lungs. She let out a whimper of shock, and tried to take a step backward, but just before her foot connected with the floor, she was flung across the room by a force with great power.

She hit Beyond's desk, and the corner lodged itself into her exposed skin and tore it. She fell to the ground, grabbing onto the wound which just so happened to be on her belly. Blood was beginning to pump out of it. Hood still had not realised this, but before she could see what this hot liquid on her hand was, she could feel cold fingers weave into her hair and before she could even make a noise, it smashed her head onto the floor boards, and drag her across the room.

Hood screamed, and tried to reach her arm up to where this hand was and try and pry it off, but... There was nothing there; she was grabbing air!

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed, and the tugging on her hair stopped. She attempted to crawl and try and get back onto her feet, but as soon as she got on her hands and knees, something heavy smashed her to the ground. She grunted, and she felt dead cold hands twine around the middle of her throat. These hands were colder than ice, light as a feather, yet they were heavy as a brick.

The hands began to strangle her from behind. Hood tried to struggle, but could not move at all. The fingers dug deeper into her throat, and she began to choke. The fingers continued to dig into her. Finally, she was beginning to choke, and even feel dizzy. Suddenly, a large blunt object hit her on the back of her head, and everything went black.

**HALLO! Now, I know that this isn't my best work, (In fact I hate it) but I have re-written this chapter like 4 or 5 times, and this was the best one! I'm not writing it again. Lol.**

**The song I'm listening to now, is... **_**Chemical Heart, **_**by **_**Grinspoon!**_** I love those guys XD**

**Well, don't forget to review! Could I have at least 5? Plz? ^^ **


	19. Master

**Why hello, there readers! It seems that I've reached my goal of 100 reviews - I've gone OVER 100! Now, obviously my new goal would be 200, but I doubt thats going to happen, I'm a pretty slack updater! So... My new goal for reviews will be 150! I've nearly got 130, so hopefully it won't take long XD**

**Ok, this is an honest list of things that I was distracted with before updating- Assassins Creed (Yet again) Halo (BAJHASIR) Mafia 2 (WOO) xxxHolic (Both the anime AND manga) and homeworks D': Working on other projects, and lastly, Invader Zim :D **

**And And... I've got a new fave yaoi couple... DoumekixWatanuki of xxxHolic! :D**

**Disclaimer:  
Beyond, that sexy psychopath: Yes, it is I! MWAHAHA! Well, I have one thing to say to your new fave yaoi couple- it sucks! Both of those guys are **_**not**_** as hot as **_**I**_** am!**

**Me: ... Meh. ;) Nothing can beat you, can they, B? Ok, the real disclaimer- I own all 'yo asses!**

**Song that I'm listening to: In the end- Linkin Park**

.-.

_Chapter 19:_

With sweat masking her entire body, Hood jolted herself awake to find herself cold, and in the dark. She hadn't thought much of why she was sweating despite the cool air- her mind was too distracted by trying to make out the shapes around her. She knew that she was in a bed, because she could feel the soft mattress underneath her palms, and her bare feet were right at the edge of a strewn away duvet. Her breathing was quick, causing her heartbeat to speed up in the slightest. The large organ centred in her chest was aching sharply. Hood threw herself forward; burying her face in her knees and began to cough dryly. Upon finishing, she looked around yet again- noticing how her eyes were becoming more accustomed to the dark.  
The few shapes she could make out, were large and solid ones- obviously one of them was a table; a desk, maybe. The other one was large and was placed right on the opposite side of the room; closer to the door... Perhaps that was a wardrobe...

The blonde shivered at memories of what was hidden in Beyond's wardrobe.

Who's room was she in? And who put her in here? The last thing she could remember, was that it wasn't _this_ dark, and... The book; the disgusting creatures drawn in specific details... The red ink... The screaming... She was _thrown_ into his desk... Suddenly remembering how the desk had torn at her belly- making her bleed, she placed her hand over where she remembered the wound was supposed to be. She was expecting it to hurt, to be still in pain, but, she felt nothing.

She shifted so she could step out of bed, but just before her feet met the cold wooden floorboards, a heavy and easily recognisable voice spoke up- filling her entire body with ice water.

"I don't suggest moving, in your condition... Haylee." He said. The blonde's eyes widened immensely as that ice water only seemed colder. She could feel her skin begin to prickle sharply, and her jaw began to tremble. She could see his silhouette standing by the window (perhaps leaning against it).

His shadow swiftly swam across the walls of the room- making her feel like he's closed her in, as if he'd trapped her into his game, yet again. Hood threw herself back on the bed, trying to crawl as far away from the window as possible and trying to refrain herself from shaking.

"Haylee... Haylee... Haylee..." He repeated chidingly, with a click of a tongue. "I can't exactly feel sorry for you, can I? You got what was coming to you, when I found you in that condition. What do you think you were doing?"

Hood's heart was pounding harshly against her chest- what exactly had happened to her, to be enough to class it as a 'condition'? She dug her fingers deeply into the bed sheets underneath her hands. She said nothing in reply- keeping her eyes locked on his form at all times.

"You're lucky I was nice enough to give you painkillers." Hood blinked- he'd disappeared right before her eyes, his rough chuckles were echoing hauntingly around the room, leaving his position untraceable.

"Beyond-"

"Hush, my little pet."

Hood's heart stopped right on place as she felt a deathly cold hand reach around from behind her and be placed across her mouth, holding it closed for ultimate silence from her. Cold beads of sweat began to form across her forehead as she stared at the uncomfortably cold, yet blazing limb over her mouth with sharp, wide eyes.

_/"Shh, shh... You don't want anybody to hear this, do you?" He whispered- his coffee stained breath managed to make it's way thickly down her throat, chortling her damply. "Because if you get caught like this, you're parents will hate you." She forcefully nodded, giving up on trying to hold her tears back and letting them roll down her reddened, sweaty cheeks./_

Beyond leaned his head over her opposite shoulder with a smirk. His spiked black hair brushed against her cheek softly. More uncomfortable than ever, she drew her muscles in tightly.

"You're tense." He commented, as his other hand weaved under her shoulder to hold her in place, partly an attempt to relax her and partly to stop her from shaking.

Beyond pulled her back into his chest to gain more control of her- as if she were his puppet. His free hand shifted upwards and he drew his ice cold finger across her throat. Hood threw her head back onto his shoulder as he began to dig his fingernail into the centre of her jugular vein. The amount of sweat drops on her forehead had grown and multiplied by three. She could feel the capacity of her heartbeat somehow raise largely- to the point where it was beginning to hurt her.- at this rate, she'd began to think that it would not at all be ludicrous for somebody of her age to suddenly die of a heart attack.

"Why did I find a skull on your pillow?" He growled- his voice was growing to a deep, husky sound which raised the hair on the back of her neck on end. Beyond didn't seem to mind that she was digging her head into the crook of his shoulder as she began to wince.

"You put it there!" She managed weakly, from behind his hand. The tone of voice she was aiming at did not reach. Instead, it came out as barely a muffled whisper. Beyond's finger eased - only for him to wrap his entire hand around her throat, tightly- but not tight enough to choke her.

"_No. I. Didn't_."

Those three words dripped more venom than what Beyond's tone held. The words made the cold water inside of her body freeze and turn into snow. She felt herself begin to chill and goosebumps raised all over her pale skin. She felt her eyes open widely and even began to shake... From what? Was it fear?

Obviously there was something more than just a stalker that's been following her around; even _A_ mentioned that she had a 'friend' living in there with her... A _ghost..._ As much as Hood had experienced all too recently, it was beginning to feel as though this whole... _idea, _this ridiculous _theory- _was not all together as 'ridiculous' as it seemed.

Hood's jaw began to tremble just as Beyond removed his hand from her mouth.

"I- I- we buried them all!" She stuttered. "I don't understand!" Yelling now, she was finding it hard to collect her thoughts as her mind was racing wildly- _too _wildly. On top of shaking, she was dizzy.

Beyond stayed silent- brooding, maybe. He kept his eyes on the base of her fast pulsing, pale skinned neck.

"Beyond!" Hood continued, soon after realising that he was ignoring her.

He seemed far too placid for her liking, but he didn't know or would believe her or would even understand her if she told him what had happened just before- it was absolutely _unbelievable! _He would only taunt her, if she told him she was _thrown_ across the room by nothing! Or that his windows latch was busted because of an airless wind! Or even _half_ the stuff that she'd have to say. He'd only chide her, like he normally did.

"_Beyond..." _This time, she was only murmuring his name.

Echoing from deep inside his belly was a low rumbling, which soon evolved into him snorting, until he full on threw his head and laughed out loud- a deep, rough yet sharp laugh, one that could make the toughest of the tough nearly jump out of their skins- so imagine having it right in your ear, while the person making it had his arms wrapped around you.

Hood had curled her toes together tightly as her fists eyes and teeth clenched shut. The shaking of her limbs had not decreased, which only made her feel more discomforted.

When he'd ceased with a breath of relief which had blown right into the base of her neck, he finally responded to her.

"You're full of _shit." _He spat. His statement only sent her mind into yet another frenzy.

"I didn't take the skull!" She screamed at him. "I did not take it!"

"Shh, shh... Calm yourself down..." He hushed her, as his hand that was earlier spread across her mouth began to stoke her hair- the effects were not calming at all. They only made her edgier.

"Beyond, I-"

"I believe you"

If Beyond could do _anything_- he was great at confusing her, and did it successfully, yet again.

"I don't understand, before you-"

"I was testing you, like a good _master_ should." The emphasis on the 'm' word made her shiver. "I believed you all along."

.-.

The shower taps were turned on with a loud squeak from the knob, which echoed loudly into the empty bathroom. The water began to drum against the porcelain tiles like the rain falling against the ground, outdoors.

Barely acknowledging his surroundings- not even checking to see if anybody else was in there- A began to peel his clothes off, throwing them to the floor in a crumpled heap and stepped into the shower of boiling hot water.

He stood inside the dimly lit cavity behind the thin, white plastic curtain, with his head bent low, and letting the best of the water mat his thick, brown hair down against his forehead, and let the soothing hot water flow down the arch of his back, sorting out the knots and kinks in his muscles.

His eyes were hooded, and he concentrated on his feet. His bruised lips were pulled into a straight line across his features, and his hands remained limp. It could have been safe to say that he had absolutely nothing on his mind, but that indeed was not the case.

His mindset had remained on earlier in the day- or, the day before to be exact, as the time at this moment was 2:35am. Beyond's words to him had been echoing back and forth through his brain all night:

"_How about _you_ go die-" "-They only feel sorry for you because-" "-Your remaining family want nothing to do with you, because-" _

These words tainted his mind with its poison, dripping into every crack and crevice, burning through him like acid to silk, and ripping through him as easily as paper can be torn with a simple flick.

"_You. Are. Nothing." _

A's heart wrenched tightly- cutting his breath off immediately. He could feel fingers lacing behind each valve of the muscle, pulling them apart easily, stripping them away one by one, and squeezing the remaining life out of what was left of it.

He leant his aching head against the cold porcelain tiles, trying to focus his mind on something else, and attempting to avoid his tears which were right on the verge of rolling down his wet cheeks- but came most unsuccessful.

His jaw trembled, and he dug his fingers into the crevices of each tile.

"_You. Are. Nothing."_ He repeated breathily, words barely formed, and then he began to sob.

His breath came to a hitch, and he tried to chortle himself from crying as he heard the bathroom door slam shut with a heavy echo, and footsteps coming inside the room. He could feel his chest heaving and his eyes stinging. His tears were continuing to fall , but he tried his hardest to ignore them and concentrate on not making a sound.  
He didn't want this person, whether it be L, or Zero... _Or Beyond..._ to know that he was in here- he wanted this other person to believe it was anybody _but _him.

He slid to the floor, and wrapped himself into a ball. His arms were cradling his knees, which his head was hidden in and his hands were tightly gripping onto his forearms. He let the boiling hot water shower over him like rain on his outer shell and stayed as silent as he could.

He still couldn't help the fact that his tears just would _not_ cease from falling, or the fact that he felt like his heart was ripped apart one by one.

**:D Very much an extremely late update! *Bows down in apology* **

**Well, writing emotions such as what A is experiencing is actually quite difficult D: Soooo... Yah. Pathetic excuse 3x**

**Well if you still love me, could you leave me at least 5 reviews? :3**


	20. Mirror Mirror On The Wall

**Why hello there, small child! I've decided to douse my woes by writing WORDS :D  
*Ahem* So I've began to write this during English, when we're learning how to write essays, and speak and write formally! I DUN NEED THATS! :D *cough***

**Oh yes, I nearly forgot to mention: I made a facebook page for teB360! :D The link is on my profile; JOOIINNN EEETTT!**

**Song: Beautiful- Eminem**

**Disclaimer: The disclaimer won't steal my rights to Beyond, right? RIGHT? ... teB360 owns and dominates all ;)**

_Chapter 20: Mirror Mirror On The Wall _

The door slammed shut with a shuddering effect down his spine. Such a noise like this would surely wake the other orphans at a time like this. The first thing that was noticed as he entered into the bathroom, was the amount of steam pooling out of one of the occupied shower cubicles, fogging up the mirrors and air around him.

He stepped in front of one of the clouded mirrors, and spread his palm across it, printing the shape of his hand across the glass, before slowly wiping the condensation away.

Looking back at him was a teenager of about fifteen, with almond tanned skin, wavy black hair that hung above his shoulders and dark brown eyes. Underneath his eyes were lines of sleeplessness due from the past few nights of extra studying.

Sighing, he wiped away the remainder of the haze on the mirror with the back of his sleeve, only to be revealing milk white tiles of porcelain lining the floor and half of the walls like scales, and the shower, being the cause of the steam.

Zero turned the tap on below him and icy cold water rushed out of the faucet. He dipped his hands in the stream and splashed the liquid upon his face, feeling a sudden chill shake through his body. He wiped his face on the sleeve of his shirt, which was already damp from wiping at the mirror.

The mirror had fogged up yet again, but it was still possible to see the marks of where his hands had been pressed upon. It looked as if the hand prints were that of a spirit, or perhaps a _ghost_ on the other side. Sighing, he wiped the mirror again.

Zero's breathing hitched and his heart stopped in place with an aching thud as something that contrasted against the white of the tiles began to seep thickly and slowly across them.

Zero didn't know _what_ it was, but he knew that it didn't belong. He could feel his chest begin to tighten and the back of his throat begin to dry. He felt his breathing start again with a sharp thump of his heart and the mirror fogged up again from the steam of the shower.

He hadn't noticed it, but the hairs on his arms and on the back of his neck had risen with an uncomfortable feeling rising in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn't right.

Quickly, he turned on the balls of his feet with a painfully abrupt breath. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see. At most, his eyes were probably playing tricks on him. That stuff... He didn't even register what the colour was, he could just memorize how it oozed. It oozed in a strangely similar way to _blood_. .. It couldn't have been _blood!_ No. No way. It was water. It had to be just water.

Or, nothing at all.

Zero's heart leapt and his mouth gaped. It was nothing. His mind was playing tricks on him. This was one of the effects of not sleeping for the past three days; you start imagining things that aren't really there- hallucinations, if you will.

The shower was continuing to steam out wet, white haze that clogged his lungs, keeping him from breathing easily. Zero coughed. He'd only just realised then how much he'd been sweating since he'd entered the room. His shirt was completely damp and itchy... If he was suffering _outside_ of the shower, then what about the person _inside_ of the cavity? They'd get it ten times worse. Scalding hot water burning their skin, chest tightening steam and no breath.

Who was in there? Was it nobody? Did someone forget to turn the taps off after they left? Zero dismissed that last thought. These taps were mechanically reinforced to turn themselves off after half an hour, and even if a little spray of water was on for less than that time, the entire bathroom would not result in something like this.

Somebody was in there, torturing themselves with water. It was too obvious.

Zero stepped closer to the source of the steam, feeling his stomach begin to lurch with a sickening feeling begin to swell inside him.

There were only three other boys in the orphanage and in true fact, it could have been any one of them. L had insomnia - he barely slept, but most of the time, he forced himself to stay awake with coffee and _cold_ showers. That ruled him out of the picture.

B? Nobody knows if he has sleep deprivation problems. Especially not with all that black makeup he cakes on, around his eyes. He _could_ be in the shower, and Zero wouldn't have put it past him to have the water scalding hot.

Next was A. A was number one in the orphanage _only because_ L wasn't rated. A was smart, but at the same time he was stupid and unstable - nearly nobody noticed this. He never left his room after 9 at night, or so that's what was thought of him. Zero chose to believe the fact that A was in his room, fast asleep.

Backup was in there.

Zero grabbed onto the thick, canvas like material of the shower curtain and ripped it open with a flex of a muscle. He was cascaded by thicker steam, making it absolutely impossible to see _anything_. His breathing difficulty reached its peak and he began to choke. His chest drew in tight, as if there were a belt pulling it closed and his throat was aching monstrously.

He needed to get rid of the source of the steam before it's too late. Before he collapses.

Zero threw his arm in the shower. He tried to ignore how the water felt like hot oil on his skin as he twisted the taps with as much force as he could muster, abruptly stopping the rain from the faucet.

He managed to brush the fog clouds away, despite that the heat was forcing its way down his throat in thick lumps, and soon enough, shapes began to form.  
His eyes, which were stinging from the hot condensation strained to make those very shapes out. Huddled in the corner was a grey shadow. Something bright glinted from it and suddenly it dulled.

"D-Don't get any closer!" The shape demanded. His voice was rough- it sounded dry, like it hurt to speak.

Zero's heart stopped right on time as his eyes widened. That wasn't Backup's voice. There was no way in hell that could have been his voice. Whoever this was didn't have the chiding tone that B always had, nor did he have the usual mock or sarcasm dripping from his words. Instead... There was something else. Pain.

"... A?"  
There was no reply.

A's eyes, once again, began to wetten and his chortled sob choked out of him with a wrench of his heart, like somebody had taken a wet towel and just _twisted_ it, but... All that he felt was the simple wash of pressure begin to slip from its holding place.

He clenched his fists tightly to the point where something sharp began to create a throbbing pain on the palms of his hands but he easily ignored it.

"Zero?" He whispered as the sound of unsureness faintly began to echo his words.

"A..." He whispered back "Wha- what are you doing?" He asked, forcing his voice into it's most gentle tone. He tried to clear the fog away from his vision to get a good look at A, but he could barely see his face. Just his features.

A tightly closed his eyes as the throbbing from his hand began to thicken just as the hot sticky liquid, otherwise known as blood, dripped off his hand, in between his fingers, across his knuckles, and onto the tiles below.

"Can you see me?" He asked. He tried to imitate L, by keeping his voice empty; void of all the emotions he was experiencing; Pretending not to feel anything, when really, all he wanted to do was cry. Cry himself a river and drown in it. Just like Pandora, only his box of evil was given to him by Beyond.

"No." Zero admitted. "I can't." He suddenly felt a tight knot begin to grow in his stomach. What was A doing?

A's jaw trembled and he tried to suppress the tears he knew were going to fall out at any second now. His heart, yet again, felt like it was being wrung like a wet towel and then shredded to pieces by bare hands. All this was Beyond's fault. Beyond fucking Birthday did this to him. He fucked him up. Messed with his head. Destroyed whatever stability and sanity he originally had, and yet Beyond didn't care. He found it _funny,_ _humorous, a source of fucking entertainment! _He was one sick, _sick_ person. A sadist in true light. A fucking psycho.

A could feel his wrist pumping in rhythm of his heart beat as his own blood was slipping from his body, wasting away onto the milk white tiles scaling the floor. The pain wasn't that bad. It was nothing compared to how he felt inside. It was just another scratch inside a big dent.

_Nothing_.

"Zero." He began, mustering up as calm a voice as he could. "It's probably best if you don't see this." For his sake. Not for Zero's.  
If A were found covered in his own blood because of his own stupid choices this early in the morning, the person who caught him would end up telling Roger, but... This was Zero. If anything, Zero wasn't a tattletale. He couldn't trust him, but he couldn't completely hide everything from him. He was understanding, especially with everything he's been through.  
Everything he's been through with _C._

Zero's mouth gaped the word 'what' out of confusion. His dark eyebrows knitted together tightly.

"Hold your hand out." The brunette continued. "Please." His fist clenched tightly once again and yet another mark of shame was made on his palm. Again.

Obligingly, Zero held his hand out blindly into the cavity of the shower cubicle. A bit his lip as he raised a clenched, bleeding fist, and grabbed onto the other teens held out palm just as quickly as he slid it out, landing it on the wet floor besides him.

A had placed something in Zero's hand.

Zero's stomach lurched as the sickening feeling of illness began to raise in his stomach like bile. The blood smeared on his hand wasn't the trigger for this. It was what had caused A's very blood to spill. A razor blade. A fucking razor.

Zero cupped his mouth as he felt like he was going to spew. His hands began to shake and the razor dropped to the ground with a clatter by his feet. His heart was hammering against his ribcage and he could feel hot liquid begin to corner by his tear ducts.

_/ "Why are you so worried?" She giggled light heartedly as she collapsed on her bed with a soft thump. _

_Zero glared at her from the doorway. "Ciera, he's dangerous. I can sense it." He snapped._

_She raised a dark eyebrow. "But you should know me well, _Zeki._ I'm into the dangerous type."/_

_/ "You can see it as well as I can, Ciera! He's not good for you! Look at yourself!" He snapped._

_Ciera resembled a porcelain doll with the amount of makeup she was wearing. Her hot tears streamed down her cheeks, causing ugly black lines from her eye makeup begin run.  
The thing was... Ciera _never_ wore makeup. She'd never found the need for it._

"_Where have you gone? You're not the same person you once were. You're not the same person I know." He continued. Zero was on the verge of crying himself. He _hated_ him. He wanted to fucking rip that bastard's head off for doing what he did./_

_/ "Ciera, it's summer. Why are you wearing long sleeves?" Zero tugged at the oversized black jacket she was wearing and she pulled away from him with as much force as she could possibly muster. Zero's eyes widened. "What are you hiding from me?" He held onto her small forearm tightly._

"_Nothing! Now get away from me!" She growled, breaking his grip completely before tripping over her own shoes and falling to the ground. The sleeves slid up her slender arms, and that's when he saw them. _

_Stripes running up her arms. Scars. Cuts. Self torture. _

_She was purposely hurting herself./_

Zero's breath was coming in harshly, making it hard for him to actually _breathe_ and he knew, he just _knew_ that he was about to cry.

A knew it was a bad idea to let him in on the secret and he felt regret begin to sweep inside of him. He leaned up against the wall of the shower and closed his eyes.

Surrounding him was not a pool of water, but a pool of his own blood. The blood dripped from each individual cut he'd make on his body.

'Cut' wasn't a word strong enough to describe the damage he'd done to himself. It was 'hack'.

A had hacked at his arms and legs. There wasn't one piece of skin on his thighs or wrists that wasn't swollen or bleeding.

"_I shouldn't have done this."_ He whispered, hoping as hardly as he could that Zero had heard him, but alas... He hadn't.

.-.

Three loud knocks erupted in the room, pulling Hood out of her doze. Her blue eyes half opened in response as a groan mumbled out of her lips.

Yellow morning sunlight streamed out of the window, telling her it was probably time to start the day, not that she was interested in getting out of bed.

Three more loud, hollow sounding knocks echoed their way to her ears.

"What!" She yelled, throwing a heavy feather pillow over head.

The knocks slowed in rhythm. 1... 2... 3.

In frustration, Hood threw her pillow to the floor, jumped out of bed and thumped over to the door. She swung it open with as much force as she could. She stopped in place when she noticed that a couple of orphans were standing in front of her door from across the hallway, _or_ actually in front of _Kay's _door.

"W- what's going on?" She asked.

Before she got an answer, X and Z shuffled away from Kay's doorway to reveal Beyond leaning against the frame. His hands were dug deeply into his pockets and a lollypop was jutting out of his lips. His red eyes, hidden from his choppy black hair, glinted as he acknowledged her presence.

He was wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and a thin tee shirt. You could clearly see the ribbon of bandages wrapped around his forearm, following his hand down into his pocket.

L soon emerged from the room with Roger and Quillish Wammy by his side.

"Kay's gone." He declared. "Long gone."

Hood's eyes widened to the size of saucer plates. _'Gone? How?'_

"She's been gone since last night."

.-.

**:D YAY I FINALLY UPDATED! :D And at least this chapter actually **_**brought**_** us somewhere ^^**

**Oh and Ciera is pronounced as 'Kiera'. It's just another spelling!**

**I hope you all enjoyed the update :P PLEASE REVIEW! :D**

**Could I pllzzzz have at least 5? :3**


	21. Why?

**Aah, another update :3**

**So at least the delay this time was nothing but two weeks, right? Right? Gah, I'm so slack I can't even remember!**

**Disclaimer: Beyond likes his sandwiches so for now, he owns me :P**

**Song: Woman- Wolfmother**

**.-.**

_Chapter 21: Why?_

Roger Ruvie had been sitting with his head against the cool surface of the desk for about an hour, now. The whole house had been in distraught since the disappearance of yet another orphan in two years. Two orphans. Two years.

He rubbed the centre of his forehead. Kay's door had been locked from the outside. Her window, though... That was unlocked, she could have escaped, but why didn't she bring any clothes with her? None of her drawers had looked like they'd been rummaged through, but he didn't know that. Wammy's didn't keep tabs on the items of clothing their orphans possessed.

On another note, her room was three storey's high! If she jumped down from her window, she'd have died. Not many people survive falling out of high up windows.

L was sitting crouched in front of the mans desk, a silver spoon held to his lips by his thin, nimble fingers. He'd spent the morning in his superiors office, studying files. Files that shouldn't have existed. Small records revolved around the two missing orphans, C and K.

There wasn't really too much point in checking these records. They were just flimsy pieces of paper with a few things written in black pen.

Their names and genders, their years of birth, their aliases and country of nationality.

Kay... Kassandra McErlott. Female. Born in 1983- 14 years of age, hails from Scotland.

Copy... Ciera Tensei. Female. Born... 1982. Age- 14 years of age, when missing. She'd be 15 this year, same age as L. Her country of birth was Japan.

"There is about a 96 percent chance that she's run away." L told Roger. It hadn't taken much to figure that out. The window was found open, and she was fit. She'd be able to climb down the brick works without hassle. But where was she going? Had she brought anything with her, or hidden anything to determine that?

There weren't many places a 14 year old girl with no family and who comes from a completely different country, could do in such a bleak area that the house of Wammy's was hidden in.

L read the back of her sheet of records. It was only giving the slight impression that her brains liked to stick with science- chemistry to be exact, L remembered. Did that mean anything to what she was up to? 70 percent said so.

"What about the other four percent, L? She might not have actually run away, maybe she-"

"Well, it's obvious that she's run away, isn't it? The window was opened and she's been known to be rather fit, compared to the other orphans. I believe that she'd be able to carry her own weight while climbing down the brickworks underneath her room, don't you think?"

"Well, yes, but... How did she get out of the gates? Will she be coming back?"

"The odds for her coming back are at forty percent. This isn't the first time orphans have run away. Most of those who run off don't come back."

Like C, although... There was something burnt in the back of L's mind that gave of a sick feeling about that girl. There'd been barely any evidence found about her disappearing. Like she'd slipped into a completely different dimension! But L had strong suspicions that something had happened to her.

He let Roger continue on believing that she'd simply just run off, to save him more stress than what he already had to encounter.

B, on the other hand. There was something suspicious about him, something relating to Copy, and L hated him for it. Despite everything that B has done to him, it was the least important in his mind. L didn't care that B had raped him. He didn't care that he'd left him of an inch of his life, several times before. And didn't care that he's left his mark on his skin and in his brain.

His strong dislike for him only came when he'd figured out all too easily that he had something to do with the disappearance of C. There was no evidence to support it, and L couldn't do any further investigating with just an ache in his gut (not that it would usually stop him) but he couldn't. Roger and Watari wouldn't allow it, only because they didn't believe him, or so L thought.

Roger muttered something under his breath, rubbing his forefingers at his temples. "I hope she'll be alright, then. I hope C is alright, too. I hope they both stay safe."

As much as Roger thought kids were spawns of the devil, he couldn't help but feel compassion for them. He'd helped bring them up to be who they were to this day. L was good at blocking out all emotion, but he felt the flooding feeling of guilt begin to sweep through his veins and in the pit of his stomach, making it swell, causing illness to spread inside of him.

"May I be excused?" There was no point in L to even bother asking, because before Roger developed an answer, L got to his feet and headed out of the room, hand on the centre of his stomach.

.-.

The breakfast table had been unusually quiet, that morning, with the absence of Kay, A and Z.

Xanthus was sitting by herself sadly right at the end of the room. Tears had stained her cheeks a dusty red and her movements were slow. It had taken her half an hour to eat an entire bowl of cereal and drink a cup of coffee... But Hood didn't even think that she had even taken too much of a sip. It was probably cold.

Hood was sitting on the complete opposite side of the room from the older girl. As much as Xanthus was annoying, she couldn't help but feel bad for her. They might not have seemed close, like she was to Zero, but Kay had obviously meant something to her. Even though Kay was a bitch who tried to kill her more than once.

Hood's mind continued to play on the teens disappearance. If Xanthus was _this_ distraught, then she could only _imagine _how A felt.

Her spoon was swirling around in her bowl thoughtfully. She'd barely even eaten anything, that morning. Her mind was too busy, just _thinking._

Xanthus sooner or later raised to her feet with her half full bowl and cup of cold coffee. She'd only just realised that she wasn't hungry. She was feeling sick. Hood's eyes followed her as she brushed past her with a cool breeze of air.

She dropped her spoon in her bowl with a small splash of milk and a clatter before pushing herself out of her seat. "Wait, Xanthus!"

In immediate recognition of that voice, she stiffened. It belonged to Hood, of course. The ten year old girl who was a lot stronger than what she looked... She had proof on the back of her head, which no doubt was scarred. (Not that she could see the mark, of course.)

The taller girl, who towered over the small blonde, stared down at her. Hood hadn't really thought as far as what to say to her. She only felt... Worry.

The two stared at each other for a few awkward seconds. "Where is everyone?" She asked softly.

Hood noticed how Xanthus's frame loosened. "A... hasn't left his room all morning and Zero..." She trailed off, her clenched fist was held to the centre of her chest. "Just... Everything that's happened here... Has upset him. Kay's disappearance has reminded him of... C..." The fist by her heart, in a matter of milliseconds, spread open and slammed over her mouth.

Hood's eyes widened, copying Xanthus's facial expression. "Who's C?"

But before she got her answer, Xanthus power walked out of the room, heart beating wildly when she pushed past Backup standing by the doorway. Hood stared out at the pathway which X had walked, the strong expression on confusion marring over her features and curiosity beginning to leak inside of her mind.

C... Was that another codename for another orphan here? One that she'd never been told about? She remembered being told about 6 other orphans here, but... Not a seventh.

Who could this orphan have been?

Hood's thoughts had snapped to silence when she felt cold fingers squeeze her skin before a punch against her forearm followed. The blonde made a gasp of shock and drew her entire body around.

"What do you think you're doing?" She exclaimed as B was standing beside her with a smirk of content. She hadn't even noticed him leave the doorway, so a jolt of surprise begin to thump her heart against the cage of her ribs.

"Pinch and a punch, first day of the month." He sang and jutted his tongue out of his lips cheekily. The blonde narrowed her eyes at him, rubbing the spot where he'd touched... Not that it hurt, or anything...

"You're in an awfully good mood, today." She muttered.

Beyond shrugged. "Can't I be happy and cheerful on the first day of summer?"

Hood's mouth gaped. _Summer? It was COLD!_ The skies were still clouded with grey and the air was as cool as an icebox! She still shivered when wearing tee shirts! "What the hell are you talking about? It's FREEZING!"

Beyond shrugged again. "Well, you're not used to England then, are you Hayley?"

'_There he goes with my name again.'_ The blonde scowled at him. _'How did he find out? I didn't tell him, or anything...'_

Beyond left her the second he realised that she was glaring at him, and walked through the large double doors of the kitchen. Hood, muttering cusses under her breath sat back down, picking up her spoon and shovelling cereal in her mouth bitterly.

"I _hate_ England." She growled.

Beyond pulled open the pantry, pushing away jars and containers of stuff that he barely spared a glance at. He frowned when he'd figured out that whatever he was looking for was gone. He slammed the cupboard door closed and pulled open the fridge in one swift movement.

"Orange juice... Nope. _Apple_ juice... No way... _meat._ Um, no thanks." He spoke as he studied everything in the fridge frantically. "Marmalade? Ew." He scrunched up his pale nose as he picked up the small glass jar. There was only a few teaspoons left, he noted and a smirk began to stretch across his lips. "_L."_

Still holding onto the jar, he slammed the door shut and pulled open another drawer, grabbing a little silver teaspoon before pushing the doors open again.

Hood's eyes lazily glanced at him and he sat opposite her, opening the jar and dipping the spoon in. He watched her expression turn to disgust when the spoon made its way to his mouth and he couldn't help but laugh. He pulled the spoon out and licked the surface clean with his tongue.

"Do you want some?" He offered as he collected more of the soppy looking orange crap out of the jar. "It's not that bad." The blonde didn't say anything, but watched him as he let that disgusting looking stuff on his spoon slide into his mouth. "Whatever. Your loss."

"I don't think so." She replied. She felt like gagging, but she managed to suppress it by another spoonful of cereal. His bandaged arm was laying flat and limply across the table. His fingers were curled into a ball. Whatever happened to his arm... It must have hurt, then.

Beyond, of course, noticed that she was staring at his arm but he didn't really seem to mind. The marmalade was distracting enough to deal with then someone staring at bandages that covered up whatever damage he'd done to himself.

That marmalade was, as Hood had wordlessly put it, disgusting. He didn't know why he was continuing to eat it. It wasn't sweet, but it was watery. It couldn't be good for him. He was eating it because L had most likely eaten his jam... Like last time.

L didn't really care what he ate, unless it was sweet, or, sweet at the time. So, that included this orange flavoured marmalade. He'd probably ditched it and forgotten about it for Beyond's strawberry, raspberry and blackberry jam, homemade by a certain store which he loved and ordered from all the time.

It was a petty revenge.

He grimaced as he placed another scoop on his tongue, but swallowed it in one go.

"Can I ask you what happened to your arm?"

He nearly thanked the gods for her to start talking. It gave him an excuse to stop eating. "I cut my arm with a knife." He replied as a sickeningly happy smile began to pull across his lips.

Hood felt an unsettling feeling begin to stir in her stomach. "On... purpose?"

"Yes."

They stayed in a long awkward silence for several minutes. Hood was staring at him in disbelief. Why would he cut _himself?_ He normally cut _her!_ Beyond just stared back at her as his stupid smile gradually turned into a smirk. She wanted to say; 'You sicken me.' But refrained strongly, as ideas about the consequences began to flood her mind and scare her. He was definitely capable of a lot.

"Why?"

"Because I felt like it." He replied. "It doesn't really hurt that much. Just stings sometimes. Wanna see?" He started to unwrap the bandage without word, before she answered him.

"No! No way! I want to _keep_ the contents of my stomach, thankyou!"

But her argument had no effect. He pulled the brown, rusty coloured bandage, which was once white, off, feeling sudden relief from release of the pressure and fresh air that blew across it.

He watched as her face paled when she stared at the several gaping wounds, smeared in dried blood. It was quite ugly to look at, but he didn't think it was _that_ bad. Definitely not the worst he's seen. His mother's fate was the worst to look at, afterwards.

He shook images and memories from his mind before they affected him.

Looking down at the marks on his arm, he could barely see what he'd written, underneath his own blood.

"Do you know what the most commonly asked question is?" He asked her, his ruby eyes glancing over to her.

"No, I don't."

"It's 'why'." He said. "Why this? Why that? Why do we exist? Why do we breathe? Why do we _do_ things?"

Hood swallowed a thick lump in her throat. She was feeling more and more uncomfortable with each word he spoke. She could feel the insides of her stomach swirling and twisting around, making her heart flutter with speed, making her breath hard against her chest.

"Why do people cut themselves?" She added bravely, voice trembling, but she managed to keep it as calm as she could.

He grinned at her. "Some do it because they're upset with the way their life is turning out. I did it because I wanted to feel what it was like to be one of those people."

"Why?"

"Because I shouldn't love my life."

**.-.**

**I'm kinda creeped out now D: I hope you liked the chapter, despite it being a stupid filler .**

**Oh well, at least you know some facts about Ciera and Kay, now :D!**

**Could you pretty please with B's precious jam on top leave me at least 5 reviews? **

**If you don't I'll give you L's rejected marmalade T.T**

**Song: Melted Holiday- Grinspoon **


	22. When The Devil Has No Say

**I know this update is stupidly late, but I've tried to get it done! Just to make it up, this chapter is extra long for your enjoyment. I'm trying to string in some thick tension but... Alas, I believe I've failed O.O I haven't written in over a month (As my laptop had been confiscated by officials for doing stuff that I shouldn't have been doing that may or may not have been too legal... Matt would be proud *happy tears*) But I've finally gotten it back :D**

**I see I've missed a few public holidays, too!**

***Ahem* Happy Easter! (despite it being AAAaaaGGGeeeSSS ago) Hopefully you've managed to avoid Mello or even **_**L**_** from stealing your chocolate :D?**

**And happy ANZAC day for the 25 of April, if anybody is familiar with it! (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.) **

**Oh... And yet another "public" holiday (I'm only saying it because it was on a weekend) but my birthday has passed during this time, too ;) I'm 16 now so it's probably not as big a deal if I write lemons *evil grin***

**Disclaimer: Do I **_**look**_** like an old Japanese man? I do? Well yeah, I own Death Note, then! *cough cough cough***

**One more thing: If I didn't make it clear in the start of the chapter, it's a few months later ;)**

**Song: Hands Open- Snow Patrol **

**.-.**

_Chapter 22:_

Summer disappeared as quickly as it had started, for Hood. The entire season felt like Winter. Sure, she'd see the odd stream of sunlight through the gray of the clouds, but it was faint. Nothing like what it was back at home.

Hood even found herself so upset about the _weather_ that she'd _sob_ over it. But, all in all, it wasn't just the state of the weather that triggered this, of course. She missed her mother. She missed her grandmother and grandfather, hell, she missed her _dad,_ even. She hadn't even been given an opportunity to go live with her remaining family! They just sent her here, to an _orphanage!_ They probably thought she was dead!

Meanwhile, there'd been no contact with Kay, and no leads to where she'd disappeared to, not that Roger had really been searching, of course. She may have been young, but her ability was not to be underestimated. She was smart and capable. She'd be able to manage, and it was her choice to leave. Kay wouldn't have left on a whim, nor would she have left on something as ridiculous as a rebel streak. She would have thought her options through, and followed her heart.

Beyond's good mood hadn't really lasted as long as what Hood had hoped. Instead of a cheeky grin, it transformed into his usual flat expression which was literally enough to send shivers down her spine. His playful attitude with her burnt into ash; He'd resorted into treating her like an animal, again.

A rarely left his room, anymore. And when he did, he'd avoid the other orphans if they came within a metres distance and he always kept his head low.  
One time, Zero had left Xanthus and had chased after him, making a scene outside on the field. A was quite a fast runner and Zero wasn't the quickest, but he'd caught up with him eventually. He gripped onto his shoulder and the second he did A's eyes collected tears and they flowed down his cheeks. He didn't even care to spare a thought at wiping them off before other people saw him in this state, and most definitely every other orphan had witnessed this:

A... Crying... In front of _everyone,_ in _Zero's_ embrace.

But nobody understood anything. They didn't know why he'd only let Zero go near him, in the end.

Zero... Was his friend. Zero was there for him, and even though that fucking razor blade brought back painful memories for him, he stayed in that bathroom just for A, that fateful morning.

Zero made him forget about B. He made him happy.

But, in Zero's mind... He didn't quite understand what B was to him, and A rarely uttered an explanation, let alone a complete sentence. Sure, he'd seen him in his room before, with or without the presence of A. Only once he'd seen B on top of his friend, forcing his _lips_ on his...

...Were they once together? Oh, he didn't even need confirmation from either of them to know that! It was obvious!

But, A should have been smart enough not to get involved with him, right?  
B played him and messed up his head, and it wasn't the first time he'd done it, either, and by the looks of it, as soon as a new shiny toy walks through the doors, he moves away from the old project as it grows stale to start anew.

God only knew what was wrong with that boys head. God only knew why he found pleasure in hurting people with such a strong impact. God only knew what that _thing_ they called a boy, was.

In fact, God probably _didn't_ even know what the fuck was wrong with that bastard.  
The devil probably had no say, either.

He was something of human creation. Just... A monster. The kind that lives under your bed and haunts you; striking when you least expect it; unleashing hellish horrors leaking through the plaster of the walls like blood and dragging you forever in the darkness, never to return.

And this time, the victim was something as innocent as a little, 10 year old girl.

B really was nightmarish bastard.

.-.

Ever since that letter... Since _C_ was mentioned by something as simple as a slip of the tongue by Xanthus, the sentence she'd spoken was on constant replay in Hood's mind.

What was a _C?_ No... _Who_ was C? Why was Xanthus so freaked out when she mentioned it?

Was it taboo to speak about 'C'?

Immediately forgetting about her untouched homework, Hood raised from the wooden seat by the desk in her room. She was going to find out.

Standing by the mouth of her doorway, she scanned all the doors in the hallway.

Next to her room was Beyond's door. Across from her was Kay's old room and next to that, was Xanthus's room, she remembered. Swallowing what felt like a thick lump in her throat, Hood slowly began to make her way towards that very door, next to Kay's across the cold wooden floorboards.

She knocked loudly three times, half hoping that Xanthus wasn't actually in there. She held her breath as she awaited an answer. She didn't even understand why she was nervous. Xanthus was too... Gentle? To be afraid of. Sure, she probably hated Hood's guts, thinking she was a crazy little brat _and_ she was three times her height, and probably a lot stronger that what her long, spaghetti-like arms showed, but that was no reason to be perspiring against her forehead, right?

It felt like a fortnight since she'd been standing there, waiting for the door to open up in the quiet hallway. Taking another breath, she knocked on the door yet again, louder and harder against her clenched knuckles. When she heard the familiar _click_ of the door opening, her heart nearly leaped, and she took a step back, staring at the door, but confusion suddenly marred her features when she realised that the door hadn't actually _opened._

"H? What are you doing?"

The blonde's entire chest felt like it suddenly exploded as she jumped into the air with widened eyes. Nearly falling backwards, A reached a hand out and caught her from underneath her tiny waist, lifting her back up onto her feet.

The confusion on her face faded and was transferred to the older teen when he watched her expression suddenly pale deathly white. He couldn't have scared her _that_ much, could he? She felt stiff as a board under his arm and her skin had been covered in large goosebumps.

The blonde's mind was whirring too fast for her to be able to calm it down; constant flashes of colour from her past burnt her mind, reminding her of painful things she'd rather have forgotten, just from a simple shift from the teen, catching her as she fell backward.

The warm feeling underneath her was too... Familiarly uncomfortable. She could feel her heart _hammering_ at her ribs; Sharp pains aching through her entire body.

Her eyes were closed, but she could still see his face. A face she could never forget. It was the face of somebody she was supposed to trust, but she couldn't; It was the face of a monster. The face of the one she hated the most.

Tarnished green eyes hidden underneath a head of fading blonde hair stared back at her, making her entire body shake from a cold wave of fear as her blood boiled and her stomach twisted and turned. Her mouth and throat felt dry. Nothing she ever said worked. Screaming didn't do anything, either. Nobody else was there to hear it.

She watched as the man's expression softened, eyes widening. His hands, for some reason supported darker skin, grabbed onto her arms, yelling something in her face. But what was he saying? She couldn't hear a word. His lips were moving, his hair was... Darkening? The green of his polo shirt was fading and his eyes...

She could hear something, now; An echo. She could still feel his hands... Those stupid hands! They have to go! _She_ has to go! She has to run away! Hood tried to scream, but nothing came out of her mouth. She tried to struggle, but she couldn't move. The echo was louder, now; Bursting her eardrums, pain shuddering through her body. Her eyes were stinging.

"_GO AWAY!"_ She screamed. "_GET AWAY FROM ME!"_

The man staring back at her- his grip on her arms tightening. She could hear another voice... No, she could hear several voices. Were they here to save her?

"_HELP ME!"_ She yelled out. She was gaping now. She wanted this to go away. The man before her... His face had smoothed out- he looked younger. She didn't even know if it was the same man, anymore but as her gut ached, she couldn't decide.

Sobs were chortling her, exploding from her lungs in wheezes. She was out of breath, no- she _couldn't_ breathe! She was choking! She wanted this to go away. It's just... Not happening! Not again! She shut her eyes, teeth gritting. She was trying to hold her strong emotions back- she wanted to feel nothing.

She could still hear those voices. They were louder, this time... Some... She even recognised.

The hot hands around her forearms were suddenly yanked off, leaving them throbbing and cold.

Everything was grey when her vision slowly returned to her. Her heart was hurting; thudding against her chest. Her blood was still boiling and burning her skin and her stomach was doing flip flops.

Her breath was coming in short and sharp ragged gasps. Her eyes slowly scanned the room, taking in each object and trying to figure out where she was, but, the only thing was... She didn't know. She could see several faces crowding around her, looks of alarm coursing through their expressions. They were all silent and it took too long for her to start remembering who they were.

Hood's hand cautiously ran up one of her forearms, remembering where those man's hands had been. Silently, she pushed herself into a sitting position. Her cheeks were wet and her eyes were burning. She wiped at them, drying off her cold tears.

Looking amongst the faces again, she realised that none of those people were of that man, but the first face she recognised was A's. He was being held by L and Zero, mixed looks of worry and flat annoyance between them.

"Where did he go?" She asked them, her tone sounding more frantic than what she wanted. The few orphans exchanged looks of wonder. Hood's eyebrows creased. "That man!" She yelled out. "He- He was just here!" Subconsciously, she gripped onto her throbbing forearms again.

L looked from A back over to the girl. "Who is this man?" He pressed, but he wasn't expecting a proper answer from her, and according to his assumption, he'd received it correctly. She didn't say anything, just stared back at him. Roger, who was standing behind the group of orphans cleared his throat. "Did this man... Do something?"

"L." Roger warned, his voice was sharp and startled some of the children. L gave him an off-hand glance and looked back over to the girl.

"There was no other man in here, Hood." He said. "It's only us." He gestured around the room and silently, the girl spared another scan through them.

She could see Beyond standing closest to the door. He seemed uncaring, compared to the others. His hands were casually dug into his jeans, and he looked like he was staring into space. His vision was above everybody's heads, maybe staring into the corner of the ceiling on the other side of the room, his eyes were blank.

The blonde's gaze sharpened at him and remained sharp when her eyes met with L's. "Where am I?"

"I took you to the nurse's office." A spoke up. "You fainted."

L nodded. "I believe stress was the cause, for this, but that's understandable, of course. You're family is dead-" The blonde felt a pang of sadness burn into her heart, especially at how easily he'd said it, like it was nothing. "-And you've been taken to an orphanage that's located in a completely different area of Europe, from where you've grown up."

"_L!"_ Roger snapped. L rolled his eyes at the old man.

"I suppose I'll be going, now." He muttered, stepping through the scattered orphans, towards the door. Most of them stayed silent as he did so, shifting so he could get through, easier. As he got closer to B, leaning against the wall beside the door, their eyes met. L's entire system suddenly flooded with malice and he suppressed a glare at him, as B's expression raised into a sickening smirk, making his blood curdle.

After a few seconds of staring out the door from where L had left, her eyes fell upon Beyond yet again. His smirk (which she didn't catch him doing, just before) had completely disappeared, leaving absolutely no trace of him doing so. Beyond's vision met with hers before he trailed out after the older teen.

Xanthus gave a look of concern over to Hood, which only made her annoyed, before she looked over to Zero, tugging onto his shirt sleeve. "I might go." She said. "And Hood, I hope you'll stay safe."

What was that supposed to mean? _'Stay safe'_? She wasn't in danger, or anything, anymore, right?

A waved her goodbye as she left, staying planted on the ground. Zero remained with him. Hood jumped to her feet from the bed, her legs felt wobbly, like jelly and she gripped onto the side of the bed that she'd been lying on for support.

"How did you get me here?" She asked both teens.

"I... Carried you and Zero told Roger and... Soon enough everyone else here found out." A explained, rubbing the back of his neck. Hood silently asked for confirmation from Zero.

"It's true," He began. "A found me downstairs. He was carrying you and I asked him what happened. All he said, was that you fell backwards, he caught you and then... I don't know, you fainted, or something."

Her eyes narrowed. She's never fainted before, but it was nothing to get suspicious, about. God, she barely even knew what was going on, anymore. Without word she left the room, closing the door behind her with a slam.

"She's heard about C." A mentioned, his voice slightly lowered, eyes hooded. Zero's heart skipped a beat and he frowned. "Xanthus told me she accidently mentioned it to her. That was after I told her I found Hood in front of her room." The teen spoke evenly, slowing each word to pronounce them clearly as he stared clearly into Zero's dark brown eyes.

"At the rate she's going, she'll be hearing a lot more about C, too." Zero replied gravely.

A's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

He glanced at him. "B. Hood is his new toy." He told him. "Having my bedroom right next to his lets me overhear their conversations... Sadly." He frowned, taking note on how A's expression suddenly stretched into surprise. He began to debate on whether or not he should tell him that he sometimes overheard a lot more than what he should have, regarding A.

"Is he... Treating her the same he treated C?" Zero stayed silent for a second, A waited for an answer but all he received was silence. "Zero?"

"No." He said. "C was worse."

There was an uncomfortable quiet in the near empty room for several minutes as Zero's stomach turned and his chest clenched. He was starting to feel queasy. A wasn't sure on whether or not he should try and give him a comforting gesture. He knew that all this talk about C and B upset him, even more so as it was seemingly happening all over again, but he didn't know if Zero would appreciate some sort of embrace, or not.

"I think... B hasn't quite effected her, yet... At least to the full extent." Zero continued. "But... Then again, we don't know that. C had a weak personality, it just... She was different after a couple of weeks of being with him."

"She disappeared not long after that." A added. He noticed how Zero's hands clenched.

"I know." He nodded. "I wonder how long his new _'pet'_ as he calls her, will last. If she's smart, she would have just... Stayed away from him!" He was growling now, A realised. His knuckles were white and his teeth were aching in results of his tight clenching.

"But she's only a kid, Zero. I think we need to save her. I... made a narrow escape when I'd encountered him before, but..." He trailed off when Zero's glance pierced into his.

Zero _did_ mention just before that he was able to hear most of the conversations from his room... So did that mean he knew about him and B? Shit. Most likely.

"You were lucky he got sick of you." Zero snarled. A's eyes fell to the floor.

"I know." He muttered. "I was stupid to get involved with him- I don't know what I was thinking."

"You're number 1! You should have just thought it through!" The raven haired teen snapped. The brunette stayed silent. "He _used_ you! He just wanted to hurt you! You're... You're just..." He tried to think of some sort of word to say; a word that wouldn't offend A, but nearly nothing came to mind. A was just weak. Full stop.

With wet eyes, he could feel his hands tremble as his heart ached. "I know." He sobbed. "I'm just... Nothing! I'm fucking unstable!"

"No! You're just like C! You're weak! At first it was fun to mess around with you, but then he realised that he'd just be treading in his old tracks if he hanged around you, any longer! Hood is different than C! She _wants_ to stand up for herself and B knows it! That's why he left you for her!" He exploded. A cupped his mouth shut; his tears beginning to stream down his cheeks.

That all too familiar feeling of despair and sadness twisted through him, ripping his insides apart to pieces. Zero was right. God... Sometimes he was always right. He was always so quiet, but secretly... He was just observing everybody. That's why his deductions on people were almost always correct.

A was weak; he knew that himself but it only came to light with him when it was mentioned. Why hadn't he seen it, before? He was just... Pathetic.

His jaw trembled as he nodded in agreement, words escaped his tongue. Zero's glare softened as the minutes went by. A wasn't the only person effected by his little speech. Zero could feel his innards begin to burn and the grit of his teeth barely relaxed.

"How are those cuts healing?" He asked, breaking the silent air. The brunette flinched and he lifted up one of his sleeves.

"They're fine. They're just scars, now." He sighed, as he revealed them to his friend. Zero gripped onto the exposed wrist with a quick suddenness so much that it was shocking. A winced at the tight hold that Zero had upon him.

"What about your other arm?" Sourness and venom spilled in his words, poisoning the younger brunette ill.

"It's fine." He said almost grudgingly as he tried to rip his arm from him and Zero's eyes widened sharply, a horrid glare pooling into his gaze.

"Show me." He snatched onto A's other arm. The teen struggled but unfortunately for him, it was far too late. The sleeve concealing his not-so-hidden secret had been pulled up.

The silence that followed as Zero's stare burnt marks into his skin was sickening. A could feel his stomach tightening and lifting to the cavity of his throat. His insides felt nearly acidic as tension began to scald his insides. Hot tears of pain were threatening to escape him.

Before long, he finally answered the unspoken question. "It's two days old." He met with his gaze almost nervously, dashed with expectancy, but he knew that he'd put Zero into a no-speaking mood. "I hate my life, Zero. It's obvious that nobody gives a shit about my existence, so why should I bother those who know me, with it?" He outbursted; each of his emotions slipping into every word, forming together the feeling of the need of a deathwish.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Zero's eyebrows stitched together. A had clamped his mouth shut with the palm of his hand as if to hold the rest of his feelings back; Zero didn't want to hear them, so why should he share? He'd made it completely blatant with his stupid act of silence the _first_ time!

"Why should you be so selfish as to hate your very own life when there are so many people worse-off than you who are very grateful for even a few _years!"_ He'd broken the spell of quiet as an angry explosion of fire was screamed from his mouth.

"Because I don't even _have_ a few years."

A thick wave of confusion marred Zero's features. "Excuse me?"

"I can feel it. I have no will to keep going, so I won't. I _want_ to die, Zero, and I _will_ die. Everyone will be a lot happier. There will be no more medical bills costing Wammy an arm to pay off, from my purposely driven actions. There will be no more wasted energy from others, towards me; Making me food I don't eat; Giving me homework I've stopped doing; Teaching me lessons I no longer attend and lastly, no more wasted friendships. Being my friend will get you nowhere."

A witnessed Zero's jaw quiver in the slightest before he tightened it. He rested his dark brown eyes on the floor; He couldn't look at him. Not now. Not ever. Not after his little _speech._

Zero had considered staying silent, but those thoughts were shrivelled when he brought his fist back behind his head and threw it forward with as much strength and muscle he could muster. A sickening _crack_ erupted in the room upon impact and before either of them knew it or had even comprehended to realise what they were both seeing and experiencing at that very moment, A was flying in the opposite direction before he collided with a hard landing on the cold tiled floor.

A, cradled into a ball, cupped his throbbing, most likely broken, and bleeding nose. Shivers began to slide through his body and those held back hot tears fell from his eyes. He didn't care. He didn't even sob. In fact, he barely even acknowledged the pain that was sweltering across his face. The tears were just a vent- letting out his frustrations and whatnot, during that time.

"A? Oh my God! Are you ok?" Zero nearly screamed. He looked at his now red-bruised knuckles before shooting his gaze back at the teen on the floor. He really didn't know his own strength, did he? Biting his bottom lip, he flew over to A's side, gripping onto his shoulders and pulling him over, on his back. "I'm so sorry!" He apologised frantically. He could feel panic begin to rise up; twisting his stomach, kicking his hard-hammering heart and pounding his head with a thick wooden mallet.

A barely glanced at him from under his hooded eyes. His hands were hiding away the damage in which he'd caused, but Zero could see remnants of blood leaking through the spaces between his fingers. His eyes were wet and his skin was red and swollen. He must have broken something. There was no way he couldn't have.

As Zero carefully tried to pry away A's tender, shaking hands, a voice was sounded; A loud hum of apathy droning into the room.

Both teens turned their heads to see another form; One that was darkened by the different shading of light, but from what they could see, was wild, spiky, unkempt hair. The shadow was highlighted against the far wall closest to the door. From there, they watched as L's shape entered in the room in one step.

"What is it that's going on, in here?" He asked, a hint of curiosity in his normally authoritive tone.

Zero and A glanced at one another. The brunette had shifted so he was leaning forward into Zero's chest not only a few seconds earlier; Hands still holding his nose. They silently debated on telling him about what had happened only moments ago, but before they could get any word out, L began to speak again.

"Nothing?" A smirk could have possibly been heard through the way he spoke. "Looks like A's gotten a little hurt, Zero_." _His voice darkened sourly as he came into light. Only that he could see was a long sleeved white shirt that glowed luminously against his pale skin.

"Yeah." Was all he'd said.

"So are you two going to kiss and make up already?"

A long pull of silence fused between the three teens. That definitely wasn't something that _L_ would have said, _right?_ Zero glanced over at A; His eyes were glazed over with a new-bound feel of understanding.

"B." He muttered; Feigned monotone smoothing his words. Zero's jaw grew slack as his head suddenly snapped to the shadow standing by the doorway.

Three loud claps, tightening the harsh moods and strung out emotions of both A and Z were slapped across his pale hands.

"Correct." He cheered in a less than pleasant sound about him.

"What are you doing here?" The brunette growled, gripping onto Zero's shoulders in a plead for support. Zero glared in the eye-straining direction of the imposter.

"I can ask you the same thing. I thought everyone was to leave this room after _L_ had left."

"And we were just about to leave." Zero piped up, hot poison melting like acid in his words. He wished that acid were real and aimed at him right at that very moment. Anger caused him to grit his palms and tightly as he stood to his feet, roughly grabbing onto A's arm to bring him along.

There was no way he was leaving A alone with that pig of a human being.

As they approached the doorway, B stepped by it, blocking their access out. Their _only_ access out.

"B. What do you want!" A snapped- the tension pulled as B's upper lip curled into a deep setting smirk concealed by the darkness.

"Just came to tell you that L has found a new... _Recruit_ to his army of personal _Copies!"_ A grin was what had developed from that smirk as he emphasised the last word of his sentence. A reaction is what he wanted. A good one, and he was more than happy when he watched Zero flinch- and it was no subtle one either.

"Backup... You fucking bastard." Zero's heart and head was hammering right at that moment; He could feel heat waves of fire burn his insides to black, charcoal crisps. His stomach wanted to burst, and god... Oh god he wanted B to get a taste of pain.

Resisting that urge to _hit_ him, to _hurt_ him, to _damage_ him was fucking horrendous, but he knew punching him would be more than what he deserved. He knew B too well. He knew that a reaction like that was what he _craved,_ _all the time!_

"I know what you're doing, Zero. It's too obvious, with your clenched fists, and all. You're only hurting yourself more when you're resisting the urge to do something about it."

"Shut up!" Zero growled, hatred gnashing his words. On heart beat, a speedy hit was thrown at him cutting straight into the centre of B's stomach, but right before the punch landed impact, B slammed it away with his outstretched palm and flew to the side of him.

Zero drew his right leg back to gain balance as he followed him in this direction. He suddenly grabbed hold of and pulled on the collar of B's shirt; Dragging him towards him as he thrusted his elbow right into his jaw, drawing in as much possible force as he absolutely could.

Backup staggered backwards, cupping the side of his face. Zero's breathing was coming out ragged; adrenaline pumping like fire through his veins.

The imposter stared back at Zero and the other teen dared not remove his glare. B found support against the architraves of the wall. His heavy frown curled upwards, his fingers balled into a fist and a loud chuckle ruptured into the room. His rough, cackling voice sent the hairs of both A's and Z's on end.

"Perhaps I should have paid more attention in our _Fighting Skills _class instead of devoting my time to _your sister."_

.-.

**I'm so proud of myself to finally have gotten this done :D**

**So, mini fights all around, hey? Heheheeh ;)  
I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and I'm wanting to update once a week, like I did last year and the start of the year, but sadly I've barely had the time (As I've mentioned earlier)**

**Well, this chapter is extra long (Has about 3 chapters' length in one!) And I referred to a bit of Hood's past and made you learn about C!**

**And remember when B mentioned that L had found a recruit to his new army of 'Copies'?  
My advice states, most of you might take a liking to this development ;)**

**Btw, I have a new poll on my page and a reminder: I've made a Facebook page for teB360 to keep you updated with the reasons why I can't or can update or when I'm planning to update/when I **_**have**_** updated, you know. Lol. SO JOIN EET! The link to it is on my profile page!**

**I'm not using Twitter, if you prefer that, though. (No mobile access, sorry)**

**Song: Sundial - Wolfmother**


	23. Fear

** Well, I got my 'craptop' back, as I call it. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, well, you probably haven't read one of my DeviantArt journals, which gives off a perfectly good reason as to why I call my laptop such a 'sweet' nickname…. :D**

**Anyone notice the new summary?**

**~Reminders~**

**teB360 Facebook; Link is on my profile**

**Poll is on my profile**

**Artwork links are on my profile**

**Deviantart; Link is on profile**

**READ AND REVIEW :D**

**Song: Close To You – John Butler Trio**

… **That song is too fun-sounding to suit this story… Hahaha :D**

**- .-.**

_Chapter 23:_

Small, soft hands stroked the each shelf and cupboard door at each step, edging towards him. A look of curiosity was peered towards him from underneath thick eyelashes and a shy stretch of muscle across the mouth to form a grimace was aimed accordingly. The reason of justification held out an outstretched hand and cautiously, it was taken by said small, tender hands.

"Are you hungry, then?" Was what was droned in a particular sound of voice; One that wasn't ultimately pleasant but wasn't a trigger for argument- by the much taller and much older male that lead him through the large, open plan kitchen towards the refrigerator that hummed in a near silent buzz of power. "Your flight must have been long and tedious. It was quite a long ride for somebody as small as yourself." A hint of amusement spread out in each of his words.

Blonde eyebrows were narrowed and a thick accent in which needed developing for his good understanding for the English language was snapped out; "It was fine." He pulled his hand away from him and dug it into the pockets of his shorts.

The teen's eyes flickered in obvious admiration for this small boy that stood rather independently, now, before him. "That's nice." He commented as he pulled open the door of the fridge, digging through, thoroughly searching for some sort of indulgence to share with the small, 5 year old boy. He shifted across a few odd jars and packaging of certain food products which he'd rather not spare a glance at. He wasn't really too appealed by junkfood (as this was the fridge labelled so) and only one sweet was really all he could take. As his eyes landed upon that certain treat, they widened in size and he shoved his hands through to reach it.

He twisted open the cap with an expression that reminded the small boy of a freak with some sort of treat... _Oh, wait..._

Running a finger around the rim of the full jar, he licked the red, thick ooze off with a swipe of his tongue and a smirk of content as he held the jar out, offering a taste, too, but the small boy frowned at him with bitterness intoxicating his stare.

Shrugging, he re-capped it and placed it back on the railed shelf. "Is there a preference?" He eventually asked him and when the boy answered almost immediately, but almost sheepishly at the same time that's when the older male smirked. That? They had plenty of.

.-.

Hood's mind was on a constant whir; her thoughts flickering between everything that had happened these last few months. She couldn't quite rest on anything. Whenever she closed her eyes, she clearly remembered how the thick legged brown spiders crawled out of the drainage hole in the bathtub... Or how on her first night that same species of spider was crawling across her body, underneath her sheets... She could remember how her heart rate had picked up and how heavy the tension of fear was when it began to tie in her stomach.

And what about the time when she'd found that book and all hell had broken loose?

Memories of that certain book that was hidden in Beyond's room often burnt through her mind whenever she saw those certain bloody eyes, soon followed by the cold feeling she had afterwards as what she thought of somebody screaming something through the hallways at such a wrong time as the one that particular person had chosen... If it _was_ a person. She had serious doubts that it could have actually been an orphan... They were all outside, weren't they? Or were they in class? She couldn't remember.

Hood hadn't quite learnt what had thrown her across the room, either. She saw no shape, but she could remember hands, well, the _feeling_ of them, anyway. She had chills run down her spine whenever she thought about it.

The cut from the corner of B's desk had long since healed- it was only a flesh wound, luckily. Just a big scratch, was what it was. Unfortunately, the mark B had left on her with his pocket knife hadn't faded after it healed. It scarred as a big, scratchy 'B' which filled up the entire length of her back.

Hood's head was constantly aching and the thudding of her feet against the wooden floorboards was no help, either. Her fingers were weaved through her stringy blonde hair and her eyebrows were knitted at each hammer-like _thwack_ that smashed against her skull.

The corridor was completely empty and dead silent. This would have been the perfect moment for that _ghost,_ or whatever it was, to come attack her again. A was nuts when he referred it to being _'a friend'_ all that while ago. It was definitely not a friend of hers.

One of the biggest questions she had was the one which was causing the large portion of ache in her cranium. Who the hell was _C?_

It was obvious that C was an orphan that once attended here, or maybe C still goes here but likes to hide in his or her room, like L? But the only problem with that is, she was _told_ about L's existence and many of the others talk about him all the time; like he's an idol!

But everybody was afraid of the mentioning of C, especially around Beyond, she noted. Did that mean that C was just like B? But... B liked to keep to himself, right? What _was_ C to Beyond?

In the midst of the silence, a loud creak stretched out which had reminded the girl of fingernails screeching down a chalkboard had snapped her out of her thoughts. Her chest constricted right as she was about to take another breath, but it was caught in her throat as she felt as if she were suddenly wired to the floor. Her skin pricked when she watched from a distance her bedroom door opening in a sickeningly slow motion; prolonging the witches-shriek of the door to the point of insanity. Her head had the feeling like it was banging against a brick wall every time her heart beat in its fast pace as she watched with widened eyes.  
She noticed how her throat and mouth was growing dry when a frosty draft laced the normally cool air.

She knew all too well that something, whatever it was that hated her and felt the need to attack her all the time, was going to jump out from behind that door.

A thick feeling of illness began to bubble in her stomach and she knew that her complexion was visibly paling.

_Here we go again._ Was all she thought involuntarily.

Small fingers suddenly hooked around the edge of the door and catching Hood by surprise, she began to watch with hawklike vision when another hand appeared next to it. She remained still and waited, but nothing happened.

Clenching her fists and gritting her teeth, without thinking, she attempted to shuffle closer. She wanted to say something but she didn't know what... In fact, why was she even considering _talking_ to this ghost-thing when she should be running away?

She reached a hand out towards the still door and the unmoving hands but when she had, the hands slithered back behind the protection of the wood and this time with not a creak, it flew shut with a loud _slam_ that shook the windows of the corridor and threw Hood backwards onto the floor out of shock.

Her breath was coming in raggedly when she realised that she'd been holding it that whole time and her heart felt like a jackhammer. Her headache was completely forgotten about when she tried to jump onto her jelly-like legs and do a runner the opposite way but when she climbed to them, they were so shaky that she fell again, but the second time around, she managed enough stability to escape immediately.

When the loud footsteps sounded and thudded all the way down the hallway and eventually down the stairs before they turned quiet and into nothing more but a background noise, the door slowly creaked open again. The same two small hands slithered out against the wooden frame and a head of blonde popped out. The small boy craned his neck to see the stump of the wooden beam that led down the stairway which the footsteps had raced out.

His limbs were shaking and his heart was palpitating loudly and hardly. His stomach had butterflies when he finally sank down onto the floor and held his arms.

Whoever that was... Scared the hell out of him.

.-.

The dry wind floated through the air like a forgotten about and ignored plastic bag caught in an updraft.

Black hair, feathered at the ends, masked the stone white face that stared down below onto the soft levels of grass and leaves which blanketed over the dark soil like a rug. The mind of the teenager's was always in a constant buzz; reminding him that there was never an escape from his constant new theories, ideas and suspicions about everyone he'd ever met. Never had those qualities been held at a point of interest until that one day when he'd come across such a curious yet dangerous specimen such as the one who liked to call himself 'Beyond Birthday'.

Pallid hands were dug deeply in his thin jeans and his body which was normally curled in the slightest into a pessimistic hunch which screamed insecure to many others, seemed to be tightening. From such an angle which he was bent into, it looked as though he were about to topple over the edge of the building and ultimately fall to his death.

But he had no intentions to do such a selfish thing.

His dark shaded eyes closed as the unacknowledged cool breeze was finally appreciated for it's duty and he let the calm feeling of sudden relaxation finally begin to drown him. He exhaled deeply and slowly opened his eyes.

The late afternoon rays of fresh orange sunlight were slowly darkening as the sun began to edge away onto the other side of the world.

A sigh escaped him when a slight, unfitting wave of air settled behind him.

"I don't appreciate being sneaked up upon." L's monotonous voice broke the trance of silence that hung in the air.

A mirror image of himself was standing right at his shoulder; only his eyes were glinting with something different then normal.

"Most people don't." Beyond stated as his hand floated upwards to finger through L's dark locks but he shied away. A cool smile played across his lips when his eyes casually locked themselves on the invisible lot of numbers and letters that danced gently above his head.

L uttered a grumble which was not clearly translatable as he continued to stare out into the horizon; trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of Beyond's eyes which were drilling holes in the back of his head.

"Did you know that Zeki actually fought back for once?" A chuckle riveted out. "He was standing up for poor little Andy…" He absently rubbed underneath the bone of his jaw. "I never knew it, but he hits with a rather strong _vigour_ about him that-"

"- _Backup._" L cut him off as he turned to face him. "Please refrain from rambling. Continuing to do so will not prove amusing for either of us."

Beyond tilted his head with a slacking jaw in such a flexible movement that it was almost sickening. His dark hair fell from his face to reveal his ruby eyes. He looked demonic. He looked… Dead.  
"You make it sound as if you're threatening me. Dear sweet L Lawliet wouldn't do such a thing to someone who means no harm, would he?" He clutched his heart as nothing but chide whispered out of his lips.

L's lips thinned at the mock that B was throwing at him and his frame stiffened at the use of his name which hadn't been spoken of or dusted down by anybody, not even himself, until Beyond had found it out.

"You're a liar." L's forefinger and thumb of his right hand gripped under B's chin and drew it upwards; Grey eyes versus red.

A grin was suddenly pulled across the younger teens lips. "So are you."

L's blank gaze didn't falter. No emotion flashed in his eyes and no smirk was itching to be stretched across his lips. As he stared, it was only after a few prolonged and silent seconds that he finally spoke.

"Agreed."

L pulled away from the younger boy and began to stare out at the fading horizon again, wishing to himself that B would realize that his presence was unwanted and leave, but he heard no shifting, ruffling of clothing or scraping of shoes scratch against the concrete, behind him.

"A's numbers have changed."  
The words were almost like the gentle whistle of the wind as they were whispered almost secretively and more to the younger teen's self as they came to sound in L's ears.

L's half-lidded eyes widened as a heavy weight of worry and shock finally twisted him around to face the teen.

He was met with thin air.

.-.

He knew that he'd stopped being himself the very second the last droplets of life slowly ebbed away from the limp and weakened body of his mother; when her last, unrecognisable words were whispered out of her pallid, cracked lips and when clear, silvery tears were swept away from her sunken cheeks by her son's hot, shaking hands.

The memory had never left him; always, it was haunting the very depths of his mind and whenever his eyes had finally given in to the fatigue that struck him like a mallet, most nights, he would see as clear as day, that last, sad face of the only woman he'd loved… The only woman he'd ever cried for…

He had no photograph, let alone any reference to the existence of that woman - to remember the better days of her few years of life; to remember a time before she grew ill; before she looked as if she'd crawled out from a coffin that'd been buried in the depth of the ground for about a week.

He felt tears threaten to breach his guard as he ripped opened a zip-up backpack and threw in a long, thick and already prepared piece of rope, before tearing the zip across it's track again, closing it in one flex of his arm.

He knew that this was the only way – the only _permanent_ way to deal with the constant anxiety and depression he'd been pulling himself through. His original way of venting his emotions was too easy to be detected - he had scars to prove it – but this new way wouldn't be found out about until it's too late.

He hadn't noticed, as he swung his backpack over his shoulder and gently closed the door, that an extra set of footsteps had fallen in sync with his as he crept through the darkened and dank corridor and around the slight bend until he'd found himself standing in front of the rough-looking, dark brown, wooden door of the bathroom.

A shaky breath exploded out of him as he hovered his hand over the cool doorknob; oblivious to the second set of footsteps which silently halted as dark eyes peered through the shadows and few dashes of late afternoon sunlight which stretched across the floorboards like oozing blood.

The door opened with a quickened and over-muscled jolt before the teen spilled himself in just as quickly, before shutting the door behind him.

The other boy, however, remained outside of the bathroom for a few extra seconds; unaware of what exactly it was that _A_ was doing – why he was being so careful with each step and each noise he made; why he hesitated before entering inside?  
Was there something lying in wait for him? Was that why he'd brought his backpack with him?

His waiting in the hallway was discomforting as these questions and wonderings thrusted through his mind almost all together at once, barely giving him enough time to rationalise what it is he should be doing right at that moment; to figure out what it was, that his friend was doing.

The silence stretched on for what felt like hours as tension began to tighten in his body, keeping him as still as a wired-to-the-wall doll. He barely noticed that he was biting his lip; the taut skin was becoming weak under the pressure his teeth were putting it though.

He heard scuffling begin to echo from afar, travelling loudly through the narrow hallway.  
Footsteps.

He tightened his fists and took a deep, calming breath to steady his somehow fastening heartbeat. It wasn't as if he'd get _caught_ following someone around, so why would he need to get nervous, all of a sudden?

Because he felt a tremor of sickness begin to shake in his belly as he felt as if holes were drilling into the centre of his back. He kept still and unmoving; barely even shifting a centimetre to take a relaxing breath.

But soon enough, as he refused to move, he realised that he actually _couldn't_ as he felt vines begin to wrap around his jean-clad legs and around his torso. He felt something cool, yet thick, twist around his bare wrists and circle around his forearms. He couldn't actually see if they _were_ vines that raised from between the wooden planks which made the floor (even though he knew that theory was preposterous) as his neck had remained as stiff as starch-drenched material.

The 'vines' were freezing, he noted, as his jaw clenched as he tried to pull free from his bindings.  
He snapped his eyes shut and words began to flood into his mind like a jammed tap that was running on full blast;

_There are no vines. You're imagining them. You're hallucinating. You _have _to be. _

As he carefully opened his eyes when the slightness of logic began to warm him yet numb away the iciness of the would-be restraint that tied him to the floor, a shudder seemed to have shaken through his tingling spine and when his vision finally cleared, he flexed his hands; lightly stretching the muscle, and he nearly gasped when he realised his freedom.

Out of a sudden wash of relievance, he looked around for a second; first to his right and as he slowly edged his head around to his left his heart stopped in place for exactly one painful second. He could have leapt out of his skin if he wanted to as the first thing he saw, distorted or not, was a red orb pushed right into his face.

It took only a moment to realise the black strands of hair which spiked across his pallid complexion over those orbs and then the dead white lips which were smiling back at him almost disturbingly. The boy was leaning right into his side; leaving absolutely no 'bubble' of personal space left for either of them.

"Good evening, Zeki." Spoke the 'demon' in a sweet, pleasant tone. If it weren't for his looks, anybody could have mistaken him for an angel.

The teen in question's mouth grew dry. "Zeki.." He whispered, as if he were testing the name on his tongue – like it was something new…. Or forgotten about.

The 'demon' tilted his head to the side in a quick, liquid-like movement. "That's your name, isn't it? Zeki Tensei, or, how the Japanese say it; Tensei Zeki-san?"

'Zeki' kept his mouth shut tight as the grin of the 'demon's grew larger.

"Let me guess… Your last name has the Kanji for 'Heaven' in it, doesn't it? Heh. Zeki 'Heaven'." He laughed with his usual deep rasp that sent the hairs on the back of your neck permanently on end.

"It's 'Born'…. Tensei means natural talent, as in being born that way…" He grudgingly explained. There was no point in denying his name; it was already known and lying would not get him anywhere.

"That makes sense. 'Heaven' is on your side as you can more than 'naturally' talk people out of contemplating their selfish behaviour…. For now.  
Your mother was a smart woman, letting you keep your fathers last name, because it really does define your persona… Can't say much about your sister, though. Poor Ciera." He tsked almost mockingly.

"You will _not_ speak about my family." Zeki hissed as disgust and anger wormed it's way more than easily into his words.

"If I were you, my family would be the last thing on my mind." As those horridly blood-red eyes darted to the door and back, his grin stretched into thin line.

A heavy feeling of realisation suddenly dropped into the centre of his stomach like a tonne of bricks, nearly rendering him still, but he broke away from the immediate drop of weight as he leapt over to the door and ripped it open before sprinting inside, barely even realising he'd left the door wide open.

The 'demon' felt a slight tug on his sleeve and he twisted his head in such a terribly, sickening flexibility, it looked as if he could have broken his neck on his own accord.

Wide blue eyes hidden by shaggy blonde hair had narrowed and through a thick, almost untranslatable accent, he spoke only a few words;  
"I don't understand why he was so scared." He said flatly.

"Well, step one is to mess with their minds and anything and everything you say next, will be an easy trigger to strike fear in the very pits of their souls."

"Do you speak Russian?" The boy asked as his eyebrows knitted together. "My English is still broken."

B smirked. "Of course. Yebatʹ s ih umy, i oni budut boyatʹsya vas navsegda !" (Fuck with their minds, and they'll be afraid of you forever!)

It took a few seconds for the small boy to gather that as his 'mentor's' English accent was still heavy, but it was understandable and he nodded.

"YA dumayu, chto strah yavlyaet·sya razdrazhayushchim." He replied. (I think fear is annoying.)

"It can be." He grinned as he switched back to English and then grabbed the small boy's hand. "Let's have a look at the mess I made."

.-.

He tore open his bag and pulled out the concealed length of the rope before throwing it over his shoulder and looking upwards, letting his vision catch on the dangling lamp that hung on the ceiling and then let it fall to the basin of the porcelain sink that was over to the left from the light.  
He knew that neither of those objects would support his weight, as the porcelain had become chipped and brittle-like with age and the chain that hung the lampshade above was thin and rusted.

He only needed a minute. A minute to finish what had already been corrupted for years.

He set to work in a blinding and blurring flash as he climbed onto the basin of the sink and carefully reached over with a long, slender and slightly muscular arm to grab onto that hanging light.

His fingers had only brushed against it, getting lightly coated in dust, before he slipped and collapsed to the floor, face first, with a loud thud. The first thing he felt was a thick shock of pain begin to explode up his already-broken nose as hot blood began to flood out onto the pure white tiles and slickly spread across his mouth and cheeks.

"Fuck" He cursed breathlessly, trying to hold back the sudden rush of pain that swelled his entire face, as he lifted himself to his knees. He noticed he was still gripping tightly onto the long piece of rope when he wiped away the red, copper-stenched blood on the back of his sleeve.

Mindlessly, he climbed back to his feet and back onto the rim of the basin to reach over for the lamp. His shoes were slowly sliding off the smooth porcelain, not that he noticed, as he grabbed onto the flimsy, rusted brown chain. Holding tightly onto the weakened chain-links with both of his hands, he slowly stepped backwards, bringing it with him, to be standing in the centre of the sink as he decided to give it another go; twisting one end of the rope around it and tying it into a sturdy knot.

He drew in the length that now hung off the lamp's chain until he was met with the already-prepped noose, or _slipknot,_ as some people called them.  
He was just about to hang it around his neck when the door suddenly slammed open and Zero sped his way inside.

He stopped in place the very same moment his heart had frozen and the rest of the details seemed as if it were played out in slow motion as A's shocked glance suddenly glazed over as he threw his head away from him and dropped the rope around his neck. His knees slowly bent as he was getting ready to leap off and before his feet had left the porcelain basin, Zero yelled out his name, or, at least his alias as it was all he knew, before he bolted over to him, but it was too late.

A stepped out into air and that was right as the basin finally gave into his weight; bending the pipes and cracking the porcelain through until it collapsed to the ground in a pressure-fuelled spray of water and flying piles of broken ceramics and glass.

As the teen's weight was finally given to the air, he closed his eyes as he felt the rope suddenly close in around his throat with a loud scrape.

He didn't even notice the pressure that was crushing his throat as easily as a hand squeezing a few grapes, or that his head suddenly felt like it was smacking a brick wall due to loss of circulation because he was slowly drifting off into a painless and hurt-free land of darkness.

"Just keep watching. Everything happens for a reason." A voice whispered out amidst the sudden silence that echoed through the room as Zero stared wide-eyed at the scene that had just played out only seconds ago. He barely noticed it though; he was disregarding it as nothing but his imagination.

Not even a second later, before Zero had even _realised _it, the plaster in the roof ripped out in an explosion of dust as electrical cords snapped in two and the chain that held A up, tore and everything that was hanging from it flew to the ground and shattered as it smashed against the hard tiles in a spray of glass and blood.

"Go to him." That same voice commanded and without a word, let alone a thought, Zero did just that, shuffling over to him stiffly – induced by shock that had shaken him and left his limbs in an uncontrollable and hair-raising shiver and a fast-pacing heartbeat that was nothing but painful.

Zero scooped up the limp body in his arms as he kneeled into the pieces of shattered glass; not that he cared.

He tore off the offending rope around the battered and rope-burnt neck and gently stroked his friend's soft, warm cheek, as his emotions jerked and tears slowly rolled down his cheeks.

The dark shadow which had been standing behind the one crouching over A's body at that current moment dug his hands in his pockets and watched as the numbers surrounded by a pool of red, which painted every person's personal space, jumble, swap and melt into completely new numbers.

The only person's whose numbers still remained stiff and unmoving, were the numbers of Andy Spark.  
Who was still very much alive.

"And that, little Miheal, is what people are most afraid of." As the 'demon' turned his head to the small, blonde boy who was looking right back at him, they shared a knowledgeable look of understanding.

"_Smertʹ_" The boy whispered.

Death.

**.-.**

**I'm so happy that you enjoyed last chapter and I'm hoping that you'll enjoy this one just as much!**

**I'm throwing in pieces of the plot now, if you've noticed :D and I'm wondering if anyone has figured it out, as I've been hinting at it like crazy these past few chapters!**

**Heheh, I also made a slight (lame) reference to the metal band 'Slipknot' in the most inappropriate of scenes…. :D**

**So, everyone like the character introduction? I sure did… :D**

**Bwah, I know it took me like a month to finally get off my ass and finish the chapter, but I didn't actually **_**have**_** my laptop during that time…. It actually got **_**wiped…**_** Bastards…**

**And tcch, is it just me, or has anyone else noticed how Hood is afraid of **_**everything? **_**Geeeeeeeezzzzzz **

**Song: Settle For Nothing – Rage Against The Machine**


	24. Winters Bite

**So I found the most PERFECT song that fits both Beyond and Hood. It's called 'Love Hate Love' by a 1990's band called Alice In Chains. I found the song while looking through my dad's CD collection and I fell in love with the song. It's **_**really**_** grungy but it is a great song. The lyrics are the reason why I thought the song would be good for both of them. I urge you to look them up and hell, why don't you check out the music video on youtube? :D**

**And by the same band, I found a really sad song for A, called 'Down In A Hole'. Yeah, I've had it on the 'song I'm listening to' thing I normally put up many-a-time, but it's such a sad, but beautiful song. It sends chills down my spine and sometimes it brings tears to my eyes ;-; boohoo, teB360 loves a song so much, she'd cry for it.**

**Disclaimer: Beyond is currently in my bed ;D  
… While I'm on the floor D:  
Moral of this: Beyond will always steal your bed BUT even though Beyond is on my bed, my bed is my property therefore Beyond is my property!**

**Enjoy~**

_Chapter 24: Winter's Bite_

The frosty bite of the Winter's air passed in slight shifts through Hood's second year of staying at this god-forsaken orphanage, until she really could appreciate the delicious lick of the warm breezes which finally began to devour the cold ones, for the first time ever, she believed.

Her eleventh birthday was only but a few mere months away from then. According to her slowly changing gloomy moods to something in between the black and the grey of bad and horrible, she had no reason to celebrate and even feel the embrace of excitement cloud over her senses.

This orphanage was a sad, dark, dank hole in the middle of England and it sucked the life out of every single child that stayed here. It had taken its toll on her, she knew and there was no escaping that and her mental scars only made things harder. Hood was never a happy girl, but this place was no healing sanctuary.

People were slowly beginning to notice how jumpy and nervous she always was and eyes were always kept on her, to make sure she wouldn't have another episode like she did at the beginning of the year. She was paranoid. Everybody knew it and she _knew_ that the others thought she was crazy.  
All the talk about those large, thick-legged, hairy, brown, spiders crawling above her whilst she lay in the comforts of her own bedding had spread around. Nobody believed her, of course. England was _far too cold_ to have any sort of creepy creature, like an _arachnid, _for instance.  
It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. _IT WASN'T FAIR!_

The girl felt like bludgeoning these people with a pipe for doubting her. She wanted to see them bleed, watch them sob, let them experience at least an _inch_ of the pain she has suffered through; maybe that would be enough to make them realise how bad this was. They didn't understand. They were pathetic, sheltered, selfish, fuck-witted teenagers who thought they had the right to make things so much harder for her. Especially Beyond. Yeah. Especially _him._

Apart from him mentally and physically torturing her with words; the point of his knife; and the way he could play with her emotions - sending fear trickling down her spine like thick, cold honey oozing slowly, drop by drop in long, stringy threads on the flat of a butter-knife until those threads finally broke, only for it to start all over again - he'd basically abandoned her in the darkness of that fear for that new, young orphan who was known only as _'Mello'._

Mello spoke broken English with a heavy Russian accent, but as Beyond had taken the boy under his wing, his English had improved vastly to the point where he could almost speak it fluently. That was quick learning and Hood was incapable of such a talent. That was probably why he'd left her, she decided. Beyond Birthday, the obsessive, compulsive, sociopathic _and_ psychopathic teenager had grown _bored_ of her. It only made her anger rise the way he just _gave _her the cold shoulder the moment that little blonde, foreign kid entered through the cast-iron, jagged and spiky gates of the pit everyone here called home.

Why did she feel this way? Why did the hands of her emotions tear her to pieces at that very moment he moved on to a new 'project'? She should have celebrated the fact that she was no longer prone to harm by his influences and the fact that her bodily scars finally had a chance to heal without the risk of them being torn open, again. Sure, Beyond had splashed a few bottles of hot, stinging vinegar onto her back where the giant _'B'_ had been carved to avoid infection but the flesh was weakly holding together and it wouldn't take much for it to break. She needed stitches, big time, and she couldn't exactly sew the flesh of her back up by herself. For one, it was physically impossible and for two, she had no experience in the craft. Beyond had flat-out refused to sewing her wounds up when she refused to grovel on her knees for him when she questioned him about it. Neither of the two gave in so the knife-wounds remained the way they were. On a second note, Hood couldn't exactly go and show them off to Roger or Wammy, or even the nurse, because then they would _know_ that B had done this to her and then Hood will probably disappear without a trace, like C had.

Hood did believe that Beyond had something to do with C's, or _Copy's_ disappearance. Why wouldn't she believe that? She basically knew him on a slightly personal level and also knew what he was capable of.  
But while Hood only had suspicions, Zero _knew_. He had no physical evidence to go by, but he had a gut feeling and the strong memories of his sister and how she was involved with Beyond, but that was it. Putting two and two together, that gave him the ability to just _know_ these things. He was always taught, his sister too, to always trust your gut feeling by both of their parents as a child. He was obviously the only one of the twins to take that advice into stride. Zero – _Zeki_ lived by that rule.

.-.

"_- and I've come to one-of-many conclusions; you believe you do not have the mental strength and capacity to deal with your emotions._"

The sentence stung him, he knew, and he didn't want to give this counsellor the satisfaction of showing her how it had affected him with such a rapidity that it was a blur, but he knew his expression had already moulded into something dark and grey; something festering with boiling pains, un-satisfaction, and, simply depression. He could already feel his eyes begin to swell with unspoken-about tears threatening to break through his already weakened defences. The counsellor had to do a double- take to properly absorb him with her pale blue eyes; eating up his body language, the emotion carved into his features, the way he dressed, and even how his hair was done, like it was some sort of delicious meal.

The counsellor gained a peek of his neck which was sloppily covered by his jacket being buttoned to the very top. The soft flesh was damaged in a rash of reds, dark purples and greens, yellows and pinks which was thickly banded around his entire throat in a sickening display. The teenager had a thin, dark red, obviously fresh scar running down the length of his bruised and throbbing throat from the very curve of his collar bone, upwards to the base where his jaw protruded, which was above his adams-apple, in a very careful but deep slash. A surgery scar.

Feeling the urge to change the subject, the counsellor uncomfortably shifted positions, resting her hands on her lap as she folded one leg over the other and leaned backwards into the thin-padded seat. She left her notebook and pen on the table beside her, and looked straight into the boy's dark brown eyes.

"So, this is your first-of-many counselling sessions and it will do you good to feel comfortable in your surroundings." She slowly leaned forward, extending a hand to him. "My name is Willa. Yours?"

A glanced at her hand; noticing the carefully manicured fingers and bright red nail polish which matched her bright red lipstick, realising that it was exactly the same shade. Next, his eyes travelled up the length of her thin, sleeved arm to her shoulders and then to her eyes. The woman wasn't too old, but she wasn't exactly young, either. She must have been in her thirties, he decided, before gingerly reaching to meet her hand and they shared a soft shake.

"Um… I'm Alternative… People generally call me _A,_ or…" He trailed off, catching himself at the last moment. He wasn't supposed to share his real name with anybody. It could pose as a threat not only to him, but to the whole organisation racing to be L's successor… The teen felt a sickening chill cascade through his body. He didn't want to be a part of it any longer but he had no choice and his suicide attempt to get out of it hadn't exactly gone as planned. "Just A, will be fine." He muttered.

"So, tell me about yourself, _A."_ The counsellor began, a tight smile stretching across her lips. He knew she'd just be nitpicking information out of his words if he didn't choose them carefully and then perhaps she'd know far too much about him than what he'd deign to like.

"What's to tell? I live in an orphanage. I come from Canada. I like sport." _Liked._ He corrected himself, mentally.

The woman raised a thinly plucked eyebrow. "What kind of sports did you like most?"

A shrugged. "I don't know… I liked lots… Like football, basketball, hockey…"

The teen noticed her lips thin into a dark red line and he felt a tremble rivet down his spine. "You said _'liked'._" She noted. "Does that mean you don't like playing sport, anymore?" She didn't sound nasty about it, at all. She sounded calm but firm. A didn't understand why he could feel sweat form on his forehead just because he was caught out on something so stupid, like that, and she wasn't even mad.

"Oh, no, I.. I still like playing sport. Just not as much as I… used to…"

Memories of Kay flashed through his mind at that instant. Only last year, in the middle of the night, they both sneaked out to play football in the snow. He remembered exactly how the chill had bitten through his thick layers of clothing and the excitement that pulsed through his veins. The adrenaline burned through him when he knew there was quite a high chance that he could get caught climbing out the window by Wammy or Roger, but neither of them had seen or heard a thing.  
He remembered how tough she was, for a girl. The pigskin ball flew over in his direction, he caught it, and before he knew it, he was on the ground from the sudden impact which Kay had thrown at him with her body weight. (After that night, his back was aching for days.) But most of all, he remembered how she smiled at him. Her lips were curled upward in a cheeky grin, her skin was glowing silver from the moonlight and he could see his reflection in her large, dark green eyes. He could see himself smiling back at her; he was happy. She was his best friend. She loved him. He… didn't. He was so stupid. It was his own fault that he felt empty. If he never even looked in Beyond Birthday's direction the moment he layed eyes on him, then Kay would probably still have been there, and they could have been an item, and he would be happy… They both would be. But who was he kidding? Even if she _was_ still at Wammy's, they'd never be anything other than friends; Even if he wanted it that way. It wasn't possible to be anything more. It really wasn't.

The counsellor nodded, oblivious to A's inner struggles as she checked the time on her watch. A rested his head on the palm of his hand, squeezing his eyes shut. He could feel his heart throbbing violently and his stomach churning at the same pace. Tears were already rolling down his cheeks, but he quickly wiped at them with the sleeve of his jacket.

"I used to like sport more, before my best friend ran away from the orphanage." He admitted, blind to any thought as his voice cracked in the slightest, revealing to the counsellor how it pained him to even think of her, let alone _mention._ "We did everything together; played every sport, every game. We got in trouble a lot, together, too."

The counsellor nodded. "Tell me about your friend…" She trailed off, carefully testing his waters.

A's eyes slid over to hers for a few seconds before they settled back on his lap. "She was… amazing." He mumbled. He felt like an idiot talking this way about Kay, but it was what this counsellor wanted to hear and what would get him out of there, if he kept on stringing words together. "The only person I really only _knew._ And she knew me, too. She was already at the orphanage before I got there, but she'd only been there a month. She was born the same year I was, too. 1983"

The counsellor drew a slight smile across her ruby-red lips. "That's nice." She spoke sweetly. "What kind of trouble did you two get into?"

A's lips curled in the edges into the smallest smile he'd allowed himself in a very long time. "Normally, it was for climbing onto the roof and throwing sticks or rocks off the edge. I remember when we stole a heap of pots from the pottery class we had in art and threw them off the edge of our roof and watched them crumble to pieces when they finally hit the concrete and grass beneath." The teen felt his eyes sting again. "We got in a lot of trouble that day."  
_I miss her._ He thought, fighting hard to hide his fresh tears.

"Apart from her, have you any other friends? Chums? Acquaintances?" She continued.

A shrugged. He noticed the overcast weather, shooting dark grey streams of light through the slits of the blinds leaving zebra stripes over the floor and features of the counsellor; reflecting off her thick-lensed glasses, leaving squares of light floating around the room wherever she moved in the direction, of.

"Kinda." He answered. "Zero…He did kind of… save my life and he did stand up for me, to prevent me from a mental beating, once or twice.. so I guess you could consider him a friend."  
Zero was nice and all, but he knew far too much to be considered trustworthy. Zero knew about his and Beyond's several flings and he even knew part of the reason why A had tried to hang himself in the bathroom. Zero may not have been in the very top rankings, but he sure wasn't stupid. He knew what was what, and that was what A didn't like about him. Zero was always right about a lot of things, and it frustrated him to no end.

The counsellor went silent for a few long, stringent moments and A felt the tension rise and boil at sickening temperatures as he stared right back at her. "What do you mean by _'mental beatings'?_"

A felt his stomach lurch and crawl inside of his throat. His fists clenched tightly and he could even feel the rapidity of his breath begin to rise. "I didn't mean anything by it." He lied, picking the worst words to say, he realised soon afterwards.

The woman, obviously, _knew_ he was lying. "I'm beginning to think there is somebody else in your story." She stated.

A felt the temperature of his forehead pick up. "No, there isn't." _Again, with the terrible lying._ He scolded himself. "Nobody else." He spoke almost too briskly and he witnessed her eyes narrow. She grabbed her notebook from the table, and flicked through the pages.

"I've got a list of all of the orphans that came, went, and still are, at Wammy's."  
The woman glanced at the sheets of paper and a heavy feeling began to settle in the centre of the teen's stomach; twisting and pulling at his nerves to jump up from his seat, and leave the room. But he knew he'd never have the guts to do that. He wasn't a badass like Kay was, and he wasn't tough like Zero.  
"I'm going to read out the names and I want you to tell me something you know, like, and dislike about the person. It doesn't matter if you are friends with them, or not."

He knew the sweat drops on his forehead were visible and that his cheeks and ears were beginning to burn red. His hands felt clammy and damp, but he kept them clenched together. She was going to read them out alphabetically, which meant that _B_ was first.

He watched as her eyes slithered back down to the sheet in her grasp, her tongue came out to lick her lips and her mouth widening to read out the first name written in black, cursive lettering. A's eyes were bulging, he soon realised. If she read out that name, then she would already know too much. He knew his reaction would betray his words and that would only open up more questions.

.-.

"Quillish, I think you need to take a look at this."

"What is it, Roger?" Asked Quillish Wammy, adjusting his tie as he stepped into his friend's office. He pulled back the sleeve of his suit jacket to check the time on his large, silver wristwatch. "I should be expecting a call from L in a few moments so I don't have much time." He told him.

Roger's eyes were zipping through thick bundles of sheets, comparing and writing notes before he finally placed them down against his desk, folding his arms. "Just come here a moment. There is something awfully wrong with the marks this child has."

Wammy's eyebrows scrunched together as he collected the sheet holding the overall details from Roger. His lips thinned as he read through. "This is… odd. The marks of this child has considerably _dropped_ since we've brought him or her here…" There was no name on the sheet to tell him who this orphan was, but knew who it was. It had to be the only one who'd began on the lowest ranking and has stayed there throughout the year with little or no progress. If it weren't for Mello arriving, then this orphan in question would never have made it up one ranking, but how long would that child last there until she is surpassed by somebody five years younger?

"What do you think it means? I believe it was a mistake to place her here if she has not the capability to deal with the amount of work."

'_I don't think it has to do with the _amount_ of work.'_ Wammy began to think. "This is… that one named Hood, isn't it?" The elderly man shook his head. "We must keep an eye on her. I've heard reports that she's quite mentally unstable at the moment so it could be _that_ affecting her work." He supplied, trying to see things on a brighter scale.

"Or she's not a genius." Roger deadpanned. "Alternative is extremely unstable; He tried to kill himself just last week – but despite all this, his scores are still at the top and he is indeed the heir to L's name. If he can keep up with the work despite his mental instabilities, than Hood can too… if she belongs here, that is."

Wammy skimmed through the sheet in his hand again. "I think before we do anything drastic- like transferring her to another orphanage, per-se – we need to dig to the bottom of this. It doesn't make sense that before she was here, her scores were suspiciously above average yet as soon as she is here and left to her own demise to get the work completed, she struggles to do so."

"Then that could mean –"

"- Her teacher, perhaps –"

"- Had something to do with this." Roger finished and just as he had, Wammy's mobile rang.

.-.

Zero was sitting in the corner of A's bedroom, head in-between his knees, half asleep. He'd been sitting in there for half an hour, waiting for his friend to come back from wherever he went at four o'clock every afternoon this week. It'd become an unfaltering ritual, but he was so worried. A was an idiot and he didn't want to risk him hurting himself like that, again.

Zero wondered why he was so… breakable, if that was the right word to use. Everything seemed to upset him, even if the slightest of tones was misjudged through his or anybody else's words, he'd grow unhappy and mull it over and over and over again in his mind, when really, it was simply misheard, leading to confusion.

After A had tried to hang himself, Zero noticed how different he was acting. He was much quieter than usual, always seeming to mope. He loved being by himself at all times, compared to before, where he'd normally sit and talk with at least _one _person.

After A was found, it'd been declared that he had major tracheobronchial damage. In other words, his windpipe was crushed and it's only in rare cases that people who suffer these injuries last as long as he had. He had to get surgery on his throat; getting sturdy metal rings placed around his windpipe to hold it open until it healed, then he'd have to go back into surgery to get them removed. He wasn't allowed to do sport anymore, he wasn't allowed to be outside in the heat for too long, either, not that it was actually hot or anything. He needed to take a handful of antibiotics every day and always having a few teaspoons of cough suppressant medicine. He'd already lost a heap of weight, Zero had noticed. He was almost as skinny as a rake; Most of his muscles were disappearing. A had to live through this for four months. Zero was afraid of how thin and unwell A would become during this time.

Right on cue, the sound of the door clicked as it swung wide open, followed by footsteps that echoed against the wooden floorboards. This was the first time Zero had actually waited in A's bedroom for him; normally he was standing outside by the door. He was waiting for him to suddenly say in a startled voice; _'Zero? What are you doing here?'_ but nothing happened. Had he even been noticed? He was sitting right next to his bed in clear view of the door.

Sighing, Zero lifted his head from his knees and his heart stopped in place with a sudden jolt of surprise. "Xanthus? What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, clutching his chest and feeling his heart hammering through to his hand.

Xanthus stood out from the shadows of the room like a ghost because of how pallid her skin tone was and because of the pale shade of blonde her hair was. She was looking more gaunt than usual, Zero noted.

"The question is, what are _you _doing in here? This is Alternative's room." She pressed back, tone flat.

"A is my friend, I don't think he'd mind that I'm in here. Besides, it's not like I'm doing anything I shouldn't be. I'm just waiting for him to return."

"Well I've been waiting for _you_ to return! I haven't spoken to you in so long, it feels like I don't even _know_ you anymore, Zero, and I hate it!" She snapped. "You – I miss you, Zero!"

This is not what he needed. Zero's fingers curled into the thick black locks of his hair. He could already feel stress begin to pull through him. "Xanthus, now is not a good time, ok? A is mentally unstable and I've been worried as hell about him! I'm sorry if I haven't spent as much time with you as you'd like, but I need to deal with more important things, here!"

"A is not the only person in the orphanage, Zero. Yes, it's horrible that he's tried to kill himself, but there are other orphans here who are suffering through worse than _him!"_

"Like you? Are you suggesting that _you're_ on the verge of either massacring every single fucking person here and turning this godforsaken orphanage into more of a bloodbath then what it already is, or killing yourself because you 'just can't take it anymore'?"

Xanthus's jaw dropped. It wasn't just the fact that he swore at her for the first time in his life, but it was the fact that he _yelled_, was what got to her. A stab of pain whisped through her chest and she closed her hands into fists. "What about… Hood? Or maybe even Mello? They- they've both been and _are_ under the influence of-"

"Jesus Christ." Zero cursed, leaning his head back in between his knees. "Jesus fucking Christ. Will this never end?" He muttered. "Backup. Beyond _fucking_ Birthday! I get it! I know there are more people here suffering by the hands of him. I know I can't do anything about it, I fucking get it, Xanthus!"

"Take a look at yourself!" She screamed. "You're not acting yourself! It's Alternative's fault! Stop getting involved with him and his affairs! It's finished now, you've helped him out as much as you can! He's in therapy, he will survive! You're running yourself into the ground and pretty soon, you're going to burn out and just break down. Zero… you're not yourself." Her voice lowered into nothing but a hush, right by the edge of the barrier that held back her emotions.

Zero's expression softened. He raised his head from his knees to see her. She was on the floor in front of him; hands shaking, face completely flushed. She wasn't used to outbursting at people, he knew. He must have deserved it if she finally opened the lid to her bottle, and he tried not to have a hard time believing that.

"Xanthus…." He trailed off. Xathus looked up at him. Crystal like tears were spilling down her cheeks. He felt a tug inside of his chest; constricting it and causing him to bite his lip. "Xanthus, don't cry." As Zero reached a hand out to wipe the tears away from his closest friend's cheeks, with sudden impact, she caught his hand midway so fast he didn't even see it coming. Despite her shaking hands, she held a firm grip.

"Don't." She said. "Zero.." She pushed his arm back towards his body, pulling herself towards him as she did so. Zero's mind remained blank of anything to say to her, but his hand found her left shoulder and he softly made a grab for it as her lips fell upon his. His eyes flew wide open out of alarm and right out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone standing in the room, watching. He paid no mind to it as his hand nervously made its way from her shoulder to her jaw before he kissed her back almost hesitantly. It was Xanthus who pulled away immediately, as if she had not been expecting Zero to return the favour. She climbed to her feet before leaving the room, glancing to her side before descending out the door.

"Xanthus, wait!" Zero jumped to his feet, prepared to go after her before another voice ribboned through the air. He turned around and froze on spot when he saw Alternative sitting on the end of his bed. '_Oh no._' "A." He greeted, voice wavering. "I was waiting for you."

Alternative managed a weak smile. "Yeah." He said, voice thick. "I know."

.-.

**I thought I might leave the chapter there… Everyone enjoy my crappy kiss scene with Xanthus and Zero? Meh, I'm terrible at writing romance. Better at writing horror and butchering every character XD **

**I know that this chapter was terrible though, so don't chase me with hammers and pitchforks because it won't work. **

**Also, shameless self-advertising:**

**I've written a new fanfiction and it is purely for comic relief because Ghost is becoming really angsty and harder to write. It's called Haters Make Me Famous. It's got lots of L and Beyond in it, if that will help you swerve yourself onto my profile to find it! It's got a lot of music references in it because… well, I'm obsessed. Read it or I will kill you in your sleep!**

**More shameless self-advertising:**

**teB360 facebook group. Like it so I can give you more excuses for my laziness! The link is on my profile!**

**Also, reviews please! :D**


	25. The Final Seal

**Hey guys, remember me? Hah. I bet you don't, seeing how I've become lazy with updating. I re-read through all the reviews that I've collected for this story this past year and last year, and I've figured out that I've lost it. This story's main concept has been forgotten about as I've been too occupied with dealing with A and Z and not Beyond and Hood. And now, Mello is in the picture, so I guess Hood has to figure out a way to push him out.**

**Anyway, I'd like to sincerely apologise for turning this into a drama and angst fic, when it should be a full on horror as I was originally gonna do it. But hey, I do actually have a reason why the ghost isn't stalking Hood just yet…. Don't worry, that ghost is definitely coming back. Blood will definitely be spilt soon, and you'll have your good old, fucked up B back, too!**

**I've lost a lot of reviewers recently, so now it's my goal to win them back. I'll give B back his knife. ;D**

**Listening to: Various Dubstep remixes of other songs on YouTube ;D**

**Disclaimer: Do I LOOK like I own Death Note? Yes, yes I do.**

Chapter 25: The Final Seal

There was a stir going through Wammy's House For The Gifted as more and more orphans soon came to realise that L was gone. Some of the orphans and staff believed he was finally sick of being the 'God', being the 'Role Model', the one everyone was supposed to be just like. Others had the idea that he was trying to find Kay and bring her back. Most of the orphans believed Backup had finally scared him off. Zero and Xanthus were holding a prayer for him, despite the fact that neither of them were religious. A was wishing he'd done what L and Kay had long ago. The only thing he was truly thankful for, regarding Backup, was that he'd become the object of boredom before he became just another rumour, like Copy had become.

Roger and Wammy were constantly locked in Wammy's office, hovering over the computer screen like moths to a lamp lit amidst the gloomy, shadowy darkness. If people needed somebody to talk to about anything, they were expected to talk to Backup, seeing how they believed him to be responsible enough as he was more 'mentally fit' than A was and because he was ranked second. Zero had banged his head against the wall the moment the announcement had been made and A hid in his bedroom, probably crying his eyes out about it, Xanthus assumed. She believed A should have told Roger about everything before it was too late, so she considered that everything that was wrong with A, was his own fault.

Nobody would visit Beyond, of course. Everyone was too afraid. Even though the rumours and stories about him had calmed down immensely since A's attempted suicide, the glares and auras of fear never did when others were around him.

He combed his fingers through his long, shaggy black locks as he layed across his mattress in his clean, spotless yet gloomy room. He climbed off the bed momentarily when he decided it was probably time for a haircut.  
He was basically the top-dog around there, now. L was gone and A was deemed too unstable. Beyond Birthday was finally number one. But to stay first, he needed to become first. He needed to become L again. People would respect him more because L was the _definition_ of 'respect'.

He trudged lightly towards his desk that was pushed up against the wall across from his bed. There was a jar filled with pens, pencils and a pair of scissors with a black handle. He grabbed them, holding them tightly and the moment he began to turn towards the door, a loud knock sounded from behind it. He placed the scissors back on his desk.

His first 'customer'; Some poor sucker to step into his cave of darkness.  
"Come in." He called out.

The door handle turned and there was a clicking noise. The door didn't open. Maybe whoever it was changed their mind? As soon as he'd thought that, the door was knocked on again. Nope. The door was locked. He sighed and rolled his scarlet eyes that nearly seemed to be glowing through the grey gloom shooting in thick streams through the window, across the floor, splattered on the walls and blanketing the furniture. He turned the key that always remained in its lock until another, louder clicking noise erupted through the silence and the door opened. A small body hidden behind a thick black jacket and a hood covering up the face of his visitor stood by the mouth of the door. Long blonde hair pooled out from the both sides of the opened hood, splaying across the girl's chest in a mess of waves. Her fingers were twining with those from her opposite hand. She was nervous.

"Ah, Haylee. What a pleasant surprise to _run into you_ again! I see you're wearing the jacket I gave you?" He laughed sarcastically, stepping away from the front of the door to invite her into his domain.

Hood froze in place. Cold, invisible hands seemed to be holding her to the floor as her mouth dropped and her stomach clenched. She was rigid and couldn't allow herself to move. Especially under _his_ gaze. She remembered _exactly_ how she got this jacket. How could she forget? She was having a bath in that dusty, forgotten about part of the bathroom and when she turned, it was just _there._ A jacket twice the size of her with a red, sewed-in image of a long, spikey, Chinese Dragon across the entire back of it. _But Beyond said…_ it was _him_? _HE _put it there?

"But how?" She managed to explode at him. She suddenly felt very self-conscious, gripping tightly onto the rolled up sleeves and folding her arms across her chest. Her arms quickly unfurled and she tried to step away from the invitation to enter his room, but she felt clumsy and tripped, falling to the wooden floor with a hard thud that seemed to echo through the empty hallway.

"You've had your birthday recently, haven't you? You're eleven, now." Backup stepped towards her, holding out a helping hand to lift her from the floor and back to her feet. Hood stared at the hand for a few prolonged seconds. Long fingers, a wide palm, _white _skin_._ Her hand shot into his, and with a strong flex, he pulled her up. Neither of them let go from the embrace their hands held.

Hood's mouth continued to gape open. "It was you…?"

"I couldn't let my little pet to get cold now, could I? I was being considerate. Maybe a simple 'thanks' is in order?" He replied, flashing her a cocky grin that never seemed to suit the darkness hiding behind the blood-red of his eyes. Something churned in Hood's stomach as she stared at that expression he always used to give her. "Why can't I sense what should be there with you, Haylee?"

"What?" Her eyebrows knitted together. She pulled her hand away from the warmth radiating from his palm and shoved it in the pocket on the side of her jacket.

"Normally, it's the fear. Everyone else seems to have it when they're near me, at least. But with you…" He laughed quietly to himself, eyes lifting from her and reaching his gaze to the ceiling. "They think fear is a suitable substitute for respect. It works, but it's not the same." He turned to her again. "Are you coming in or what? If you are, close the door, please. There's a breeze."

With a jerk of movement, she shifted her feet inside and did as he said and closed the door behind her. Everything was silent again. The sound of the wind whistling was cut off, the sound of footsteps coming from downstairs was diminished and shouts and hollers echoing through the old walls of the building were muted. The air was stiff.

Beyond pulled up the chair that was tucked next to his desk and turned it towards her. "Come, sit. We've much to catch up on..."

She edged her way towards it and sat herself down. Beyond had suddenly opened his cupboard on the other side of the room, rummaging through. Memories sweeped through her mind of when she opened it up in a game of truth or dare with Kay. The sound of the bones clattering and scattering across the floor was still clear in her mind. She caught a glimpse of the dolls nailed to the wooden back of the wardrobe and shivered.

He appeared in front of her momentarily and held something out for her. "Happy eleventh birthday. Sorry I didn't wrap it up."

Hood couldn't help but to gape. She wasn't sure if she was angry, shocked or surprised, or even a mixture. It was a freaking dog collar! A dark red leather collar. Hell, there was still dog fur stuck in the buckle!

"No 'thankyou'? Oh, I understand. You're probably ecstatic that I even remembered your birthday. Here, try it on."

"I never told you my birthday in the first place!" She choked out.

"I'm not Beyond Birthday for nothing, Haylee. Your numbers have changed." And before Hood could even think of something to respond with, his thumb and forefinger jammed in the crook between her neck and jaw with a not-so-gentle force behind it and lifted her head. His hands were hot, she noticed… but how? The weather was so cold… He wrapped the leather strap around her neck and forced the end through the opening in the buckle, looping it shut and closing it tight. He pulled the hood off her head and grabbed a fistful of long blonde hair. "Your hair has grown a bit." He noted, before brushing it off her shoulders, revealing the collar that contrasted against her pale skin.

"That doesn't even make sense!" She growled, trying to pull herself out from under him, but he grabbed onto her shoulders, holding her still.

He laughed again. "If only you knew how much that _does_ make sense." He was leaning over her, now. Their eyes locked on each other's. Red to blue; Two completely opposite colours.

Hood felt like ice under his body heat. She felt as rigid as it, too. She needed more warmth. She was so, so cold. She was shaking. Her hands… her jaw… Her stomach was clenched tight. His long black hair was hanging from his head, brushing her skin. That felt warm, too. Her hands seemed to be unthawed as she found one touching his hair, weaving her fingers through the soft locks. Her other hand was twitching as her fingers began to open and close and then open and close again. Beyond stayed in place like set stone; He was almost a statue made of marble as her other hand traced a delicate, lace-like pattern across his cheek, up over his cheekbone, over his temple and towards his left eyebrow till it was past his hairline. The tips of her fingers fell back, when she realised what she was doing. Suddenly, his hand caught her wrist tightly, before it could land back into her own personal bubble. Her heart stopped in place, but he didn't growl at her like she suspected he would.

"Why aren't you afraid of me?" It didn't sound like a question, the way he'd asked it. It was more of an observation.

Her jaw trembled. "I _am_ afraid of you." She whispered.

"No, you're not."

Her heart was beating so loudly. It was hurting. Her ribs felt like they'd explode under the pressure her heart was putting them through. Her jaw trembled again and her breathing grew heavier and all of a sudden, she pulled herself forward, crashing her lips against his. His warmth suddenly cascaded through her icy veins. Her heart was aching and her body… suddenly so warm.

The moment he pulled away from her, he stated; "That was interesting. Maybe it's worth keeping you around, after all."

.-.

It was hard trying to avoid her since they'd kissed, the week before. Zero had taken it by surprise that she even had the slightest of interest in him but Xanthus had been even more surprised when she learnt that Zero lacked the same or similar interest towards her. He saw her only as his friend and he needed her probably more than she needed him, even though he never shared many of his problems with her and that he'd taken to Alternative quicker than he'd taken to her. But all the same, he trusted her with his life. He only wished that she hadn't strained their relationship further than what it needed to be. She had an idea in her head that if she hung around him longer than what she normally did and kept badgering him by trying to grab his hand all the time, that he'd turn around and like her just as much as she liked him, but it would never work. He always pulled his hand away from hers and tried not to snap at her.

Xanthus had also told Zero that it was pointless to visit A because he wasn't getting any better with his 'mental problems' – that they'd only get worse and all the effort Zero put into saving him would be wasted in the long run. She would never dare to say that to the face of anyone else other than him, though, and Zero knew that for a fact. To the eyes of everyone else, she was as sweet as honey and never held an opinion over anyone, and yes, normally she was like that, but there was just something she _really_ didn't like about '_her'_ Zero being with A for almost the entire day, every day. This was driving Zero mad.

The only time Zero could check on A without getting an earful, was after curfew. He'd sneak out of his room after dark and lightly trudge over the hard wooden floorboards and gently knock on his door. A would open the door, momentarily, and let him in. Then Zero and A would sit on the bed and talk. That's mostly what they did for that first week. They'd sometimes stay there until daylight, laying half asleep on the bed with nothing but each other's body heat circulating through the air to keep them warm as they'd lay in silence with their eyes closed and no noise except that of their own gentle breaths.

A wasn't getting much better with dealing with his issues. His depression was unwavering and stubborn and he was always down about something. He was unresponsive most nights whenever Zero asked him how he felt, how he _was._ Sometimes A would just fall into a complete silence, and that was how the two would spend the night until A finally said something, of course. Usually it wasn't relevant to Zero's worries. If Zero tried to touch his shoulder, A would edge away. If Zero asked why, A would just shrug. Of course, Zero grew tired of this quite quickly. On the fourth night of the week, when A tried to roll his way away from answering his friend's questions, Zero grabbed at him, holding him by his elbow and staring him dead in the eye. Alternative could not help but stare back till he finally began to speak about what Zero wanted to hear. Alternative felt empty and sick all the time. He hated talking, now. Not just because it was painful due to the metal pipe keeping his throat from caving in, but because he thought sharing his voice and knowledge was nothing but a waste. Zero just gripped onto him tighter and tried to reassure him as best he could.

It was Friday, the last day of the week and Zero had slowly come to the idea that he needed to have another conversation with Beyond. He wasn't too pleased that this idea had begun to swirl around in his head and he didn't have a proper reason _why_ he needed to; it was just an urge that wouldn't go down. It was sort of like the arcade game 'space invaders'. No matter how many times he shot at the problem, it just kept coming back, faster, harder, bigger, better. It was nothing but a whimsical idea that would lead him nowhere, but he felt that he should at least go through with it just to get it out of his head, so he did.

Friday morning consisted of dark clouds that threatened Winchester with ice cold rain to shower over the fields, buildings of the town and the orphanage. Cool air seeped through the windows in slow, rhythmical beats of wind. The floorboards seemed to have not only soaked in the temperature, but the colour of the sky, too; As did the walls and doors and stairs and even the moods of all orphans hidden between the walls.

Zero felt sicker at each slow step he took towards Beyond's door. His head was constantly spinning, eyes playing tricks on him and some sort of thick, nasty feeling was developing into the depths of his stomach. Shadows were painted generously in the hallway and at a head-on glance, they were stiff and unmoving but through peripheral vision, they danced like black flames. Dark fingers of shadow were crawling across Beyond's door when Zero had finally approached it. His throat had tightened to a painful degree and his tongue grew suddenly dry. The macabre feeling was spreading, twisting and turning, infecting the blood that pumped through his veins, biting at his skin, gnawing on his fingers and squeezing his head like it was something as soft as a balloon. Something inside of his head seemed to be vibrating, sending tremors through his body, shaking his hands and knees. Zero was finding it hard to breath and suddenly, a feeling as sharp as a knife plunging through his skin and into his belly caused him to collapse onto the floor. His hands clasped around the front of his stomach, searching and feeling– looking for the source of pain, looking for _blood,_ but… he found nothing.

A voice suddenly exploded through the walls of pain he was locked behind as his eyes began to blur and his stomach began to heave. He could barely hear it, but it was definitely there. He was folded over on the hard, grey floorboards, clutching his stomach with his forehead resting on his knees. He nearly didn't register it until minutes later, when it was long and gone. The sharp, echoing, almost familiar voice was on constant replay in the back of his mind.

"_Get away, now!"_ Was it? Or… was that just his subconscious?

That sudden burst of pain was what he should have been worried about, but instead, he focused his energy on trying to remember what was so familiar about that damned voice. The minutes went by and the pain had just about subsided almost as quickly as it occurred. It soon came to click with Zero the main reason as to why those few words were locked in his brain. It was because they were in Japanese. He knew for a fact that nobody else here ever spoke out loud any other language than English _and_ L and Wammy were the only ones who could speak it almost as fluently as he could and neither of them were around. L had disappeared and Wammy never left his office any more. It _had_ to be his subconscious, but something deeper in the folds of his mind continued to itch at that conclusion.

**I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I know I sure did! :D It's one of the better ones that have come out since Kay's disappearance, I believe. I didn't go crazy with overwriting it, like I do on habit, and I got really into it when I was writing this! I was a bit sad to leave it here, but I couldn't describe Zero and his mind's conversation forever….**

**Review, please! I know you're there, readers. I can see you :D**


	26. Shards

**Even though I hardly write anymore, I still think Beyond is sexy.**

**Oh right, hi everybody who happened to have clicked onto this. Uh, I haven't been writing because I've been dealing with some terrible, terrible inconvenient happenings that seem to have been plaguing me since the end of last year and all of this year. Yay for that!**

***cough hack cough***

… **that sounds like Matt right before he lights up yet another cigarette.**

**Song: **_**Testify**_** by Rage Against The Machine**

**.-.**

_Chapter 26: Shards_

.-.

Rocking back and forth on his chair, Beyond Birthday studied himself in the small, dirty mirror on his desk as he twiddled his thumbs together while resting his bare feet against the surface of the desk. He wore nothing but a pair of ripped blue jeans that were now a size too big for him.

Beyond hadn't left his room in three whole days; he hadn't eaten or showered at all during that time, and when he had the urge to use the bathroom facilities, he held his bladder instead, for as long as he could until it became far too painful to deal with and so he made use of an empty lemonade bottle he sneaked from the kitchen the week before.

He was experimenting on himself, to put it one way. His aim was to observe the rapidity of weight and muscle loss on his own body. To put it another way, he was also preparing himself for a role. To his pleasure, he could already see his ribs poking out from underneath his milk white skin, his cheek bones now sharply jutted out and his eyes were hollow, partly due to lack of sleep. Beyond hadn't expected himself to look so close to perfection so quickly, but that could have been because of his former lifestyle, where he still lacked proper nourishment.

Beyond wanted to grin at his achievement, but he knew it would not fit. If he let himself grin once, even in the privacy of his own room, then he'd let himself grin again when he was supposed to be 'in action'. Instead, he climbed off his seat and stooped over, hunching his shoulders and observed the movement as thoroughly as he possibly could as the world around him turned upside down and spun around, along with a splittingly sharp headache that slashed across his mind. He quickly clutched onto his forehead and steadied himself against his desk as his knees gave out and he fell to the floor.

"It's not right." He muttered; his voice never betraying a sharp, growling hiss. He levered himself back up onto his feet with his hand still planted firmly on his desk and stood still for several seconds, waiting for the dizziness to pass as his vision clouded over with dark specks that stole his sight and caused his mind to break in pain.

_I'm pathetic._

When he deemed himself able enough to stand without the aid of leaning against something, he flung his mirror across the room with the back of his hand. The mirror cracked and pieces flew across the floor as the mirror itself fell out of its stand and slid underneath his bed.

"God damn it!" He snapped and walked towards his bed to locate the mirror, as slowly and as steadily as he could. Each step he took was like a nail hammering deep into his brain and each time he stepped across the glass shards scattered across the floor, the cutting pain was unregistered and the blood drops falling from the bottom of his feet went unnoticed.

He knelt down, feeling the world turning upside down again and the black specks swarming across his vision returned. A forcing sort of pain which felt like something was pressing his brain to the front of his skull appeared and his ears started to ring. He wanted to curse out loud, but refrained from doing so because he knew it would take too much effort and he would end up with another addition to his headache. It just wasn't worth it. Instead, Beyond reached underneath his bed, brushing his fingers across the dusty floorboards and around old boxes until he found the smoother surface of his now broken mirror and he pulled it out and studied it.

"Seven years bad luck." He noted, remembering the old superstition that meant absolutely nothing in modern times, anymore.

The several cracks in the mirror were attached to one large one that ran down the middle – the 'vein'. It ran right across his reflection, cutting his face into two. The smaller three cracks ran across his face, one underneath his right eye, another across his right cheek and the last was past his top lip. There was one large chunk missing from his left eye down to his chin that had shattered to smaller pieces when it hit the floor. Just looking at what was once his mirror, reminded him of how incomplete he was feeling; how imperfect he was. It made him angrier, but he didn't resolve that by throwing the mirror again. Instead, he attached the frame back to its stand and placed it back where it belonged on the surface of his desk.

He picked up a miniscule mirror shard from the floor and held the sharp pointed end right at the thick artery that connected his hand to his forearm and considered letting himself go and drawing it across, letting his flesh rip open at the mercy of the roughly edged end and peeling away the skin to let his lifeblood stain his floor, but he quickly changed his mind and let the shard drop to the floor.

_L doesn't do this. He never succumbs to a weakness or pleasure like this. He's stronger than that._

Instead, Beyond climbed to his feet. He felt weak and sick. His head was spinning and it still felt like something was driving several nails through his skull and into his brain. That was what he got for not eating and sleeping, after all. It was only expected.

Beyond lightheadedly trudged over to his wardrobe and pulled it open. His usually worn black long sleeved shirt was draped over his pets. He pulled it over his head and left his room, locking the door behind him with the key that was always in his pocket.

.-.

"Where is he?"

"Who?"

"A is gone."

"_Why do you even care about him? _He's a lost cause; he's too damaged to fix. It's hopeless."

"He… he's getting better."

"Zero… He tried to kill himself."

"_He's getting better!_ He is, trust me."

"But-"

"Shut up. That was a long time ago. He – he talks to me, now. He…."

"What?"

"He knows a lot about… about _him. _It's hard to get him to talk about it, but he…"

"Who is '_him'?_ What is it that's hard for A to talk about?"

"_Shh!_ Anyone could be listening right now."

.-.

Hood woke up with the feeling of someone slapping her in the face. Her head was thrown to the side, wrenching pain at the side of her neck due to the force. Her cheek felt like it was on fire and her ears were ringing, but she didn't respond the same way she would have, the year before. Her heart was jumping of course, but she didn't yelp or cry out, nor did she even bother cupping her cheek. Instead, she curled into a ball and tried to calm the flooding shock-adrenaline within her.

It was probably just part of her dream, she figured. She'd read about people having bone-breaking pain in their dreams, which follow them into their waking life. There wasn't an explanation to how that was caused, but it was common among many people. She believed it was just the brain playing tricks on you, making you think you were in pain when you really weren't.

"Do you want me to slap you again? Wake up!"

Her eyes shot open at the voice; that hard, familiar voice - one that she hadn't heard in almost an entire week. Because of that, she began to think that she'd done something wrong when she, forced by impulse, kissed him.

"Backup?" She felt groggy, especially by the pool of light that her eyes were now sharply absorbing.

Another slap, hard, sharp, and cutting; right across her other cheek, drawing her head to turn the other way.

"It's Beyond. You should know that by now."

This time, Hood let herself cup her new, throbbing bruise before she turned back to face him. She didn't say anything. She waited for him to speak, instead.

"You're not wearing your birthday present." He noticed as he pressed his finger into the centre of her throat.

"It's over there." Hood pointed over to her desk and Beyond grabbed it before throwing it onto her bed.

"Put it on."

Without another word, Hood picked it up and unclasped the red leather collar before sliding it around her neck. "Can you do it up for me?" She asked, almost ashamed; ashamed for following his demands without argument, but she knew, deep down in some twisted place within her, that she _liked_ his attention.

Beyond pushed the leather tab through the buckle as tightly as he could without strangling her, although he was almost tempted to do so, but he knew that she couldn't die. Not yet, at least.

"You look terrible." He commented, pulling away from her to lean against the wall by the window.

Hood knew that he was, without a doubt, being ironic. He was pastier than usual, he looked like he'd lost weight and his face was thinner. He was unhealthy, to say the least. Very unhealthy.

"What do you want?"

"Haylee, my darling, I need you to assist me with something seeing how at the moment, I don't trust myself and Mihael is…. Well, I can't really trust him with sharp objects, at the moment. He seems to like them a little too much, if I may say so myself." He grinned in his usual malicious way.

Hood pressed her lips together, some spike of fear pressed into her chest but she didn't want that to show. "What do you want me to do? You're not going to hurt-"

"Hurt someone? As much as I'd love to, no. I need you to cut my hair for me. You interrupted me last time I was going to do it." He explained.

The fear inside of her slowly melted away at the pure innocence of the idea. "Why can't you do it yourself?"

Beyond's grin faded. "Because I'm actually quite angry today."

Beyond didn't offer a full explanation to Hood as to why he was angry. He didn't clear up why that made him not want to cut his own hair. If he did that, that would be one way of admitting how weak he really was; how pathetic he was. If he couldn't control himself, what hope did he really have? He was either going to cut himself, or cut someone else if he had access to anything sharp, just to pool out his rage. He loved the sight of blood dripping out from torn flesh, he loved the strange, metallic sting his skin left him with when he drew the metal blade of his knife across any place on his body – especially his thighs. He loved the tingling feeling of fire blistering the tips of his fingers. But he especially loved observing pain on others; to see the way they reacted to such a thing was pure heaven.  
He needed to learn control if he was going to be number one; if he was going to be L.

.-.

**Just a quick, incredibly short chapter. I thought that this would be a nice place to end it.**

**Anyway, if anybody noticed, I'm trying to subtly give a **_**slight **_**taste of Zero's second agenda when it comes to A. I know that his and Xanthus's part was incredibly choppy with absolutely nothing to hold it down with other than speech, but I thought it fit in well due to the nature of the chapter. It's called 'Shards' and that was just a 'shard' on the surface of the story.  
We're getting close to the end, finally! **

**And well, I'll apologise for the procrastination period. I can't get into a regular rhythm of writing, like I used to, anymore. But I suppose that having a long break between each chapter actually makes my writing flow a lot easier and the details actually come in more natural that way. It isn't rushed if I do it this way, and it's a lot easier to read.**

**Anyone else notice that mirrors seem to be a bit of a recurring theme throughout the story, or am I just imagining that?**

**Anyway, thankyou for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review. It motivates me to continue writing this. All critique is welcome! **

**Song: Pumped Up Kicks – Foster The People**


	27. A Piece To The Puzzle

**My friend (CRF – anonymous reviewer) forced me to put his 'username' in the disclaimer. That's right, **_**forced.**_** ;)**

**A pretty quick update, regarding my updating patterns, isn't it? Well, I felt motivated, but I really shouldn't be writing to this, right now. I've got SO many essays to write.**

…

**I hate being a senior.**

**Also, with Fanfiction's new allowance of 'Book Covers', I decided to upload one which is an image that a Deviant Art friend (MasuyoAraki) commissioned for me of Hood holding a doll of Beyond.  
**

**Song: State Of Love And Trust – Pearl Jam**

**.-.**

_Chapter 27: Piece To The Puzzle _

.-.

Beyond found himself facing the mirror on his desk, again. Only this time, it was cracked and broken, giving barely a decent reflection off of it. Hood stood behind him, completely unsure of what to do while she observed his messy black hair that definitely needed a wash. She had almost backed out of cutting his hair for him after he sat down with a thump and told her where his knife was located; in his pants. Not in his pockets. In his pants, between his hip and the waist band of his jeans that barely clung on to him anymore after all the weight he seemed to have suddenly dropped.

She couldn't help but to blush while Beyond continued to coax her to get it for him.

"Why can't you just pull it out for me?" She argued, voice slightly choking up out of embarrassment.

"I'm not touching it." He told her. "I already told you, I can't trust myself right at this moment."

_Pervert._ "You set this up, didn't you?" Hood hissed, hands gripping tightly onto the back of Beyond's chair.

"Somehow, I wish I did. Your reaction is priceless. Now come on, I won't bite." His menacing smirk sent a shiver up her spine, leaving an unpleasant feeling to settle in her stomach.

With a deep sigh of defeat and the thought '_how bad can it be?'_ echoing in her mind, she reached across his body, subconsciously leaning down till her face was right beside his and lifted up the hem of his shirt and the first thing she saw was the red enamel casing of his switchblade contrasting against his pale white skin.

Her eyes slid across, checking his expression which gave away nothing of any of his thoughts to her, as much to her disappointment. Lightly, her thumb and forefinger gripped onto the sides of the knife's casing and she went to tug it out until Beyond tightly grabbed onto her wrist, rendering the limb immobilised.

"What's the matter?" She asked him, when he said nothing and his expression remained blank. She couldn't see his eyes behind his thick black hair anymore, and that was what unnerved her. She felt her blood run cold as the silence pulled on and his grip grew tighter. A sharp pain throbbed from her wrist and her hand shot open. A wince of pain made its way across her mouth. "Beyond! Let go!" She tugged at his own wrist with her other hand, trying to pry it away, but the moment she spoke, he let go.

"Can you just hurry up and get the fucking knife? Do you think I _want_ to trust it to your care? Hurry up." He hissed.  
_L wouldn't do that._ _He'd wait. He would wait forever if he had to. He'd be still, he'd be silent. God, you're pathetic._ A rhythmic voice thrummed through his mind.

There was something about the next stretch of silence that scared Hood more than the fact at how deep and almost animalistic Beyond's voice merged into when he snapped at her. The corner of his lips twitched as he stiffened. Hood kept her distance from him as he sat, still as set stone.

She was gripping onto her throbbing wrist, waiting for the pain to fade. She didn't know what to say to him. She didn't know why she even _wanted_ to say something to him. He was sick. He was sadistic. The moment he grew bored of her, she wormed her way in front of him again and renewed his interest in her.  
_I'm the sick one._ Hood realised.  
She didn't know why she wanted to be near him. All she knew was that she felt addicted to his attention; like she _needed_ it. It was more than just wanting. She craved it. It was everything, to her.

From his seat, Beyond stood, steadying himself against his desk as the dizziness inside of his mind turned the world askew. He ached for food and ached for sleep but ignored the urges as he took one heavy step after the other, towards her. She was gripping her wrist and her hand was slack. It wasn't busted and it wasn't broken, Beyond knew, but something about the way she held it made him doubt his judgement.

Hood lowered her eyes when he approached her, but she made no move to escape him as Beyond held his hand out, wide and open. Reluctantly, she placed her sore hand in his and he brought it up closer to his face for observation.  
Instead of studying her wrist like he intended to do, his eyes wandered and he found that his eyes were caught on hers. They were dull blue in colour, but wide and youthful and her lips were pale and thin with barely a blush of red to them.

"It's not broken, if that's what you were wondering." He let his tongue swipe across his bottom lip, even though his hunger was quite suddenly forgotten. Hood said nothing in response, perhaps not fully convinced. "You can still move it, can't you?" He asked, finally getting a response from her as she nodded half-heartedly. "Move it, then." He challenged, and as he said that, she twitched her fingers, but made no move to pull away from his grip. A smirk threatened to pull across Beyond's lips but he pressed it back down, trying to keep his expression as flat as possible. _To be perfect._ "Good, you can still cut my hair, then."

A blush crossed her cheeks when she remembered where exactly his knife was and Beyond almost laughed. "Oh." Was all she said, as she pulled her hand out of his.

Beyond stayed completely still as Hood held her breath without realising, when she took a step closer to him and lifted up his shirt to reveal his warm skin and the enamel casing of his switchblade, yet again. She didn't even think when she brushed her fingers against his stomach and his sharply jutting hip before pulling out his knife in one swift movement. She looked up to check Beyond's expression for reassurance, but all he gave her was a twitching half smile that sent the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.

Beyond, one foot after the other, crouched down in his seat, cupping his knees in the palms of his hands and stared flat in the broken mirror without so much as batting an eyelash. His smirk had been wiped off completely.  
Hood bit the inside of her cheek, wondering why one minute he was violent and the next, he was calm and quiet and… crouching in his seat… She knew Beyond was, well, _mental_, but she couldn't understand why he was acting so strange – stranger than usual.

Beyond noticed the way her eyebrows knotted together, as if she were conflicted with thought. He resisted the urge to lick his lips again. Instead, he placed a thumb against the bottom of his lip. "What's on your mind?" He asked her, void of emotion.

"Nothing." She shook her head, flicking Beyond's knife so the blade popped out with one delicious, swift noise.

"Tell me." His voice grew harder, with a razor-like edge to it. He didn't mean to sound that harsh, but if it intimidated her, then it was worth it.  
_L doesn't need to be harsh to intimidate someone. You're just weak._

As much to her dislike, Hood caved in. "You're just… different today." She grabbed a lock of Beyond's hair from the back of his head and severed it off with his knife. "One second you're calm and the next, you try to… you hurt my wrist."

Beyond didn't respond. _If you can't control your emotions, what hope do you have? You keep slipping up. You're pathetic._ _You'll never be L. You'll never be better than L. You're nothing. _

Hood severed off another lock of hair, refusing to remove her eyes from the knife, as if cutting his hair was the most interesting thing in the world, but inside her mind, several thoughts were brewing.

_What do I expect him to do? He's already told me that he's 'angry', and that was before he dragged me out of bed. Maybe I did something that is making him act this way?_  
Hood began to work on severing off the next few inches of Beyond's hair.

"I'm sorry."

Hood froze. Her eyes broke away from the knife and went straight to the cracked mirror. Beyond's red eyes were locked on hers, through the reflection. He still had no emotion present on his face, and the way he spoke was completely nonchalant, as if he didn't even care; as if he was mocking her. But the idea of _him_ apologising - _Beyond Birthday_ of all people, - it was almost disturbing. What was he apologising for? For grabbing her wrist a little too tight? But not for anything else he'd put her through – like cutting her back up, or slapping her, or scaring the wits out of her non-stop? For being insensitive to her? For being insensitive to everybody else?  
No. She didn't care about any of that. From all she knew about him, Beyond Birthday would never apologise about anything. Either something was up with him – like he had a second agenda – or he was turning into a different person… From those two options, the only one Hood found likely was the former. The latter was far too out-there to be true. Especially for him.

"Okay." Was all she said in response, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from his to return to hacking away at his hair. Was she searching for something in those unnerving eyes of his? What was it she expected to find? He was a mystery. His eyes were a mystery. _Why are they red?_

She nearly found herself asking that question, but a certain fiery fear inside of her belly told her not to. Forcibly, she ripped her gaze from him and with one fast movement and cut off a handful of hair. As she did so, she immediately dropped the knife to the floor, sending it scattering just as shock slapped itself across her nerves. Hood pulled away from him as a stinging pain made itself evident as blood began to seep out from the slash mark across three of her fingers.

"You better not have broken that knife of mine!" Beyond growled, jumping from his seat before hesitantly picking it up with his thumb and forefinger and folding it as carefully as he could before he even considered seeing the wound on Hood's hand. "That's the last time I let you hold it for me." His voice lowered into a grumble as he placed it on the centre of his desk before padding over to her. "Let me see." He sighed, holding his hand out for her. Gingerly, Hood placed her hand in his, relishing in his comfort while it lasted.

"It's nothing, really." Hood attempted to shrug off, wincing at the throb the knife-wound gave off.

Beyond couldn't help it. He licked his lips again before letting his tongue descend down upon a drop of blood rolling down the length of her middle finger and followed it up by placing the tip of her finger in his mouth.

Hood attempted to pull her hand away from him as disgust pooled through her, but what was she to expect with someone as weird as Beyond? A blood fetish was certainly something new to add to the list.

Beyond held her hand firmly, swiping his tongue across the wound on her finger once more before pulling away and copying the action with her forefinger. His tongue felt soft, as strange as it was to Hood. He flicked away the blood across the slash on her finger before letting her remove her hand, completely forgetting about the third, still bleeding finger. Hood wiped her hand on her jeans, making a mental note to wash her hands as soon as she could, whenever she got the chance.

Beyond didn't miss Hood's reaction, clearly etched out on her perfect, fine features. _You're a freak._ A voice inside of him screamed.

A smirk pulled across his lips as he put away his sketchy 'L' persona and grabbed onto both sides of Hood's face, weaving his fingers in her hair as he forced her mouth open with his tongue and bit down on her bottom lip and soon biting the tip of her tongue. She struggled underneath him, trying to pull away from his embrace, but Beyond held her head tightly between his hands, keeping her from leaving; keeping her from running. He kissed her again on the lips, hard and rough, surely enough to bruise his mouth and hers as he pushed her backwards. Hood took steps in the direction he was pushing her so as not to trip and soon found herself shoved up against a wall, with no escaping. She felt the scars on her back sting at the impact as Beyond pinned her by holding his hand around her neck, only a squeeze away from choking her.

She wasn't given the space to even consider kissing him back or pushing him away as Beyond held her stiff, attacking her mouth with his, attacking her neck, attacking her jaw. He was hungry and animalistic and deep down, Hood knew she didn't want him to stop; but the moment that thought passed through her mind, Beyond hastily pulled away from her. Hunching his shoulders, he trudged back into his seat, crouching low as if he were a scared little child, but Hood knew that the notion of that was utterly ridiculous.

"We cannot let ourselves get distracted by lustrous activities." His voice was flat. It wasn't _his_ voice he was speaking through; there was no malice behind it, no dark undertones, and there were no silent growls hissing at the ends of each word. It was flat and it was monotone. "Now come, finish cutting my hair, and don't slip and… _bleed."_

Hood's heart was beating a mile a minute and her hands were growing clammy. She nodded at him and slowly stepped over, picking up the knife on Beyond's desk.

She didn't understand him. He was a puzzle to her; a puzzle that needed solving. And, unashamedly, she _liked_ puzzles.

Beyond never removed his eyes from Hood through the cracked, broken, and dirty mirror. He watched the thin, sharp numbers floating above her head as they continued to flash like blinding white lights, forming and melting and merging together until they became smaller and smaller, more worthless than the numbers they originated from, until the lifespan she had left was less than half of what it once was.  
Beyond let a sickening smirk cross his features as she began to work on severing off thick locks of his hair.

**.-.**

**Song; I Love It – Hilltop Hoods  
**_**(I feel like this song kind of goes with the chapter, for some retarded reason…)**_

**Anyone get the feeling that Beyond is trying a little too hard to be L? I do. Definitely. **

**Anywho, anyone hear about how the Fanfiction Moderators are DELETING ACCOUNTS AND STORIES WITHOUT WARNING ON US! Well, I personally think that this is incredibly unfair. So guys, check your summaries and profile content. Make sure there are no mentions of lemons, smut, drugs, killin' yo' self, or anything remotely illegal for anybody under the age of 18. Seeing how there is no MA 18+ rating, we're technically not allowed to write lemons to post up here WHICH SUCKS!  
**

**Oh and guys, another reminder, FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK AND MAYBE POSSIBLY TUMBLR (not that I really post much stuff on there) ! I'm pretty sure there's a link to my teB360 Facebook page on my profile. There's also a poll among irrelevant information.**

**Also, REVIEW, MY PRETTIES!**


	28. Pain

The television was blaring. It was the only sound echoing within the panelled walls. He didn't know exactly where it was coming from; just that it was there.

He was by himself in his dark dorm room; the only light being from the crack between his doorway stretching across the floor in a blonde glow. His neck was the only dull pain he felt. Everywhere else, he was numb.

His lips were chapped. He ran a finger across them as he stared at the shadowed ceiling.

He didn't want to remember why his neck was hurting. He didn't want to remember. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want the memories; the boiling hot feelings that ate him alive. He wanted it gone. Gone for good. Gone forever.

He was by himself in a dark room. His neck was hurting. His lips were chapped. _Alone. Alone. Alone._

Breathing hurt too much. Would it be easier to simply stop? _No, no._ He'd die, wouldn't he? Last time he tried to do that, he… _no._ He didn't want to think about that; didn't want to remember; wanted the memories gone. Gone for good; gone forever.

He sat up; running a finger through his hair. His neck was hurting; the pain made him want to cry out, but he kept silent. The floor was cold. His neck hurt at each step he took towards the door. He wanted to whimper, but he kept silent. He opened the door and his muscles ached. He wanted to flinch, but stayed still. The blonde glow filled the room; erasing the shadows and warming his body. He wanted to crawl back into that darkness, but he proceeded forward.

The TV was louder at each step he took. One step; two steps; three steps; four. Sooner or later he found himself at the bottom of a staircase. One he hadn't seen it what felt like years, although he knew it'd only been weeks. Long ones, at that.

The television was flickering in and out of static; grey and red lines dividing the news program and riding up the length of the screen. There was a touch of white-noise in the background; scratching at the sound and the picture.

An Asian Newsperson with her arms folded and a serious expression cutting across her features was on screen. He couldn't understand what was being said or what he was looking at when the little square behind her grew larger and showed a wave of footage for whatever story was being told. He twitched the antennas lying on top of the television set and soon enough, the picture and sound grew more understandable; white-noise cutting only cutting in every now and then.

"… _virus spreading in Thailand…"_ The footage showed men, women and children screaming; their skin boiling up into bright red hives; running; crying; panic. _"... it has been discovered that this is no accident, but an act of terrorism…" _The footage centred on a tall, ugly grey building. _"… main suspect is a woman of European decent…" _A forensic sketch opened up on the screen; large, yet with miniscule detail, but he immediately recognise who it was; for how could he forget her? How could he forget _anything_ about her? _"… goes by the alias 'Kujo'… if spotted or seen, do not approach; dial this number immediately…"_

"Kay." He whispered. It hadn't yet hit him, yet; exactly where she went and what she'd done. But as seconds passed and the news bulletin died, that's when he felt that blow; straight into the centre of his stomach. A mixture of dread, fear, sickness, sadness, but mostly hurt. For then he realised, Kay was just as bad as Beyond. Just as mental; just as wicked.

And it ached.

He was biting back tears; his hand cupping his mouth; stepping away from the television screen. He didn't want to cry for the tears would feel like acid. He didn't want to hurt because each little pain added together and thusly created new scars. He had enough ugly scars to look at; tracking up the length of his arms and the length of his legs. They itched and burnt and got infected far too easily. He had enough of the pain and sickness; the people he loves turning their back and showing their true colours; killing off little pieces of him from the inside and out.

It wasn't fair. Why did he have to lead such a painful life? Why didpeople have to suffer? Why did people _make_ other people suffer?

His hands were shaking; sweat clinging onto his skin. His entire body felt cold and his chest was heaving.

'_I… I n-need to turn the television off. I… I can't…'_ He wanted to vomit. The newscast wasn't even on; replaced by some pathetic excuse of a soap-opera. But he couldn't forget it; _swelling skin; pus exploding out of each mark; Kujo; _Kay. _Kay had done it. Kay destroyed them; those people. _She's a murderer. A psychopath; a _freak._ A monster.

His neck was hurting and it reminded him. Reminded him of _that. _He couldn't stop the memories from coming; they were too much for him to handle. He wished his neck had snapped. He wished his spine broke through his throat so he could drown in pain and blood. He wished he threw himself off the top of Wammy's instead.

But he would have survived that too, wouldn't he? After all, his time wasn't up. He vaguely heard Beyond mention something of the sort as he lay on the hardwood floors, spitting out his own blood; Backup standing with a mocking grin above him. One that made him sick to the stomach. And Zero. Zero had helped him. Zero had _tried_ to save him. But it was too late for that. Alternative was far too lost to be rescued from his pain. Too deep in the shadows to be dragged out; no matter how much he wanted to feel that real sun on his skin.

.-.

Dead white fingers dipped into an opened jar of jam; sweeping along the glass interior and then pushing into an open red mouth; a stained tongue licking off the remnants before dipping back into the jar. He licked his bottom lip realising there was a drop of jam coating it before sucking it in until the sweetness was gone.

Raspberry jam. It'd have to do, because the strawberry was gone. Not that he really cared, anyway; the flavours were similar with only a slight difference to them. But then again, small differences made matters change. Small differences separated people from being the same person all-together. Beyond's 'small' difference were his eyes. They separated him from everybody else. They reminded him that he was 'different'; that he isn't 'normal'. Yet he wouldn't change that for the world, even if it offered him all of its riches and power.

He was staring out the window; perched on the opened window sill; three storeys high. He knew he could fall if he weren't careful, yet he knew he wouldn't. He wouldn't let himself fall. And even if he did, then that's just nature taking its course.

He could see them; Zeki, Andy and Xara. They were sitting together on the opposite side of Wammy's underneath a thick tree. Zeki between the two; little Andy Spark sitting close enough to rub shoulders with him, yet he was looking away from them; moping, almost. His hand nearly brushing against his throat.

Like a liquid movement, Beyond tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes; trying to get a closer look. Beyond's sight was exceptional and beyond what was deemed as 'normal' for an average human being. Those were his Shinigami eyes in action.

Xara wasn't smiling, either. Zeki was frowning as he glanced at little Andy Spark. A returned the glance and shifted his hand closer to Zero's, against the grass.

"Naw, isn't that cute." Beyond teased, although he knew that there was no possible way for any one of them to be able to hear him. "Little A is _already_ over me."

His door clicked and creaked and small thuds echoed across the hard floorboards. Beyond snapped his head to face the intruder.

"Why, good afternoon Mihael." He greeted in a sickeningly-sweet tone of voice. Mello felt the hairs on his arms raise.

He studied him with ice blue eyes from where he stood; making no move to get closer to him. "Mama flung herself out of a window. She asked me to help her fly. So I did, and I watched." His voice was thick and calm. His English words were getting easier for him to pronounce every day, yet his accent still managed to get in the way of every spoken.

Beyond smiled warmly down at the boy. "That's adorable. My mother thought it'd be fun to jump in front of a train." Beyond gripped onto the top of the window sill and leaned closer; licking his lips in the process. "All that was left of her was a piece of torn skin and a squished eyeball." He made a slurping noise and Mello's face grew dead white.

"That's sick."

"And you don't feel any guilt for killing your mother?" The teen asked thickly; only letting a flat, stern expression grace his features.

Mello didn't answer. His eyes glinted; his fists clenched; his mouth thinned. He couldn't meet eyes with him. Beyond supressed a grin.

"What of your father?" He was merely asking out of curiosity, as it didn't really matter what happened to either one of his parents; the main point was that they were cactus, and that should be the end of it. But it was always fun to toy with people's emotion and having a piece of information as personal as that never hurt him; only _them,_ when it was used 'appropriately'.

Mello took a step back. "Alive." He rasped and Beyond's footing slipped from the window sill out of surprise. He quickly gripped onto the sides of the sill and pulled himself in, in a split second of time; his heart racing quicker than hare getting chased by a lawnmower. And he assumed that'd be an item of nightmares, for the little rodent.

"Alive?" Beyond's mouth gaped. "Then what the fuck are you doing _here?"_

Mello only stared at him before jogging out of the room. Beyond could hear his footsteps thudding against the hardwood floors. He sighed to himself. _Alive._ How is that even possible? Then again, how was _anything _possible? How was _he_ possible?

Beyond glanced back out the window sill he'd previously been perched upon. Xanthus, Zero and Alternative were gone. Beyond shut the glass window and closed the curtains as he remembered exactly what was going through his head before Mello pointlessly disturbed him. An idea associated itself in his mind and a deep smirk gouged across Beyond's mouth.

**.-.**

"_**Fast I fade away, it's almost over; so I suffocate, I'm cold and broken"**_

**Song: Fade Away – Breaking Benjamin.**

**Phew, it's been a bit of a while since an update. To be honest, I'd actually completely forgotten about Ghost; I've been too preoccupied with, well, **_**life.**_** And yeah, it's been a bit rough but I'd like to say that I've emotionally grown as a person in the past year and I can tell that not only has it affected me, but it's affected my writing, as well. I don't know about you guys, but it feel different to me, you know? It hasn't got the same 'craziness' as it did in the first few chapters. **

**And yes, this chapter was basically a filler, of sorts. I was just trying to not only channel a bit of my own emotion into it, but I tried to find that 'mood' that Ghost continues to linger in, no matter how long I leave it for. **

**And if I must, I'll disclaim Death Note before I forget. I just haven't written fanfiction in so long and sadly, I am literally not obsessed with Death Note anymore. I barely ever think of it, these days! And yes, I suppose the only thing I own of Death Note (besides the anime, movie and manga collection) is a mini-Beyond sitting on my shoulder and whispering to me what evils of society I should commit. Yes, he is my conscience. ;D**

**But Ghost isn't going to last for much longer and to be honest, I'm kind of devastated by that. This fanfiction has been a part of my life for almost three years and it means the world to me. Not only is it the first fanfiction I've ever written with an **_**actual**_** storyline to it, but I feel like I've learned too much about Beyond to handle for one person, just by writing as him. And Alternative, too. In fact, even though he isn't real, I feel close to him and wish I could just give him a hug and tell him everything will be alright, but I know it won't because canon canon and what Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba says goes. I'll probably cry for Alternative, anyway :'( **


	29. Wings

**Stand My Ground (acoustic): Within Temptation**

_Chapter 29: Wings_

It was time. The numbers were fastening into a tight lock; hanging sharply over his head like razor blades. They made him itch, just by looking at them. His stomach turned, his fingers twitched and his mouth felt dry. The numbers turned and teasingly twisted for him in their own forbidden dance.

Beyond ran his fingers through his recently cut hair and licked his lips as he watched him walked by. He could see his shoulders tighten and his eyes fixing onto the floorboards beneath his feet; refusing to look up to meet the presence beside him.

He was soon gone; ducking around the corner as the deepening red aura surrounding him had subsided, and all that was left were the dark colours of the wooden floors and panelled walls.

Beyond tapped his fingers against the wall beside him and decided on exactly thirty minutes until he made his move. His heart made a quick leap before he pushed himself from the wall, and followed the direction Alternative had taken.

His hands began to sweat, and his eyes kept leering upwards to watch the show the numbers and letters performed for him. He was almost tempted to reach up and touch them, but he knew he'd be pushing his hand into thin air if he tried. It was essentially an empty gesture to try and grasp time; to try and hold it in your hand for no one else to see or feel!

Time had a habit of slipping between your fingers, and unfortunately, there was no way to get it back.

It wasn't long until A realised he was being followed and he turned around; his eyebrows were knotted together, his mouth stretched into a thin grimace and his eyes were wide and wet. Beyond glanced at the ugly bruises and scars marring his neck from the failed suicide attempt, before indifferently flicking his eyes back up.

A heavy silence blanketed the space around them and Beyond wondered if anyone knew, as he began to eye his numbers again. Did they know what was to come; how long they had – as if it were a natural instinct; a gut feeling, even. He then wondered what was to happen after death.

Beyond allowed a flicker of emotion cut into his features; just enough for A to notice it, before it was completely wiped away into his usual stoic expression. It was sad, really. To see someone's very existence gradually disperse into nothingness.  
It became a miserable chore for him, to know the exact day, time and second someone was meant to die in. It was something he was never able to get used to.

Yet in a way, it was beautiful, the way A's numbers dropped as each minute went by, ever so gracefully…

As if breaking an eerily still pool of water into ripples, A turned and left; the sound of bare, thudding, feet trailing behind him at each step he took.

Beyond didn't blink as his eyes followed him out. He knew that somehow, death was a beautiful thing, and it was a perfect experience to see it, yet it never filled that festering hole inside of him.

.-.

There was a breeze. It shifted the branches of the trees that leaned achingly forward so that their leaves brushed heavily against the hard concrete below his feet in thick sweeps, according to the rhythm of the winds.

His feet were bare and soaked in the cold. His legs were clad in thin black tracksuit pants, and his torso was adorned with a threadbare white tee shirt riddled with holes and tears. His hair was a tangled mess, his eyes were bloodshot and lined with evidence of sleeplessness, his skin was pasty and unwashed; he was coated in the same layer of sweat he had several days beforehand. Alternative didn't care.

The breeze was nice. His hair was caressed as softly as a mother's touch, his skin was gently kissed by the wind, and as he shut his eyes and lifted his aching arms, he felt a form of bliss he knew he hadn't experienced in a long time. Opening his eyes brought him back into reality:

Clouds hung over his head, the blue sky and golden sunlight was gone, and everything was dull and grey.

Alternative sat with his legs crossed and he stared out into the distance. Thin trees dotted the landscape with long, slender, branches that reached out and vined around one another in a natural tangle.

His throat was raw and aching. Swallowing and breathing hurt. His voice had changed. It was raspier; tinnier. It wasn't the same, and so he made a decision not to speak as often as he should.

Within a few seconds, he heard the scrape of someone else approaching, and somewhere deep inside of him, he half expected it to be Beyond. He expected him to be standing there, silently watching; observing him. And then he'd speak in that cat-like manner of his – curving and warm on the outside, yet with a firm, sharp coldness underlying each and every one of his words; lining them like poison bullets ready to be shot through his barricade as if they were made of paper. In some respects, he almost wanted Beyond to be there.

Beyond – though harsh and bitter – had taught him a lot about himself. He was weak, he was pathetic and very, _very_ gay. But there were other points. He'd been taught to never trust anybody. To never _love_ anybody. To _never_ be blind of the truth.  
With this, Alterative had only been left with one bitter question: What kind of a life was that?

Alternative felt pathetic; sitting there with stray eyes boring at his skin as he stared hard at the ground below his bare feet. He made no move to lift his head and see who it was. He'd rather not know; rather not feel a shed of disappointment or anguish.  
He would have preferred to be left alone, to his woes.

"That scar on your throat is healing nicely."

Alternative's chest tightened and his lips drew together. His fingers entwined themselves together and he continued his refusal to look up. The voice didn't belong to Beyond. It was Zero's. It was soft… warm… safe.

When Alternative still hadn't replied, Zero sighed out loud. "Do you mind if I sit with you?" He asked, and after several long seconds, Alternative finally nodded and Zero fell beside him and stared out at the empty football field, with him

"What are you doing on the roof?" The silence finally ceased with the calm question.

"I like it here." It was a simple and brisk answer, and it seemed to be enough to satisfy Zero for the moment as he hummed in agreement.

They sat together for several minutes with silence as their only company. Alternative hadn't shifted or fidgeted in his position once, yet Zero couldn't find his comfort zone and continued shuffling about to find it. He glanced at A, who had apparently found the concrete to be the most interesting thing in the world. The corner of Zero's mouth tugged downwards and he shifted closer to him; wrapping his right arm around A's shoulders and drawing him to his chest. Alternative let out a sigh and melted against Zero without question, and they continued to sit in that position without movement.

"Have you ever wondered what your purpose is? Why you're even here, seeing, breathing, _living_?" Alternative's words were like a cold breath of air. Unwelcome in the developing warmth.

Zero's ears pricked up and he stole a look at his friend. His voice was so alien and distant, so unlike himself that Zero's throat knotted up in the process of his response. "What do you mean?" He managed, but was brought to no answer.

The two sat together for close to ten minutes before Zero shifted his arm. It fell to Alternative's waist, as he sat upright and leaned forward; resting his elbows on his bent knees. Zero brought his hands back to himself and clasped them together on his lap as Alternative looked back at him with his deep brown eyes. There was a hint of stubble on his chin and across his jaw, he noticed. His mouth was curved downwards, his lips were thin and dry, and drawn into a tight frown that seemed so natural, that it looked almost permanent.

Zero couldn't help but to then stare at the deep pink surgical scar along his throat, and the thick black and green bruises cutting across horizontally. A was no longer hiding them. His shirt's collar was low cut and revealed his collarbone with old healed bites and marks that dotted his exposed skin.

Alternative ran his fingers through the front of his hair as he and Zero looked at one another. A weak smile played across A's lips and Zero formed a smile across his own, just for Alternative's sake. Zero had noticed that Alternative's smile hadn't reached his eyes.

Alternative shifted positions again as the two kept their eye contact. His eyes were hollow, and his smile was forced. "You don't need to be here." He said quietly, and Zero felt a stab of pain that began to situate itself inside of him. He didn't want to leave – he was _scared_ of leaving A by himself - he knew that A needed someone… but what could he do, when he never listened? Never reached out, never _tried_ to be saved?

Zero frowned and then he felt a cold, clammy, hand encircle his own. Alternative squeezed his hand and Zero briefly squeezed back before he let out a breath and stood. A remained planted on the ground, but his grip on his hand tightened; almost as if he didn't actually want his friend to leave, despite his previous words.

"Are you sure you don't want me here?" Zero asked him. His stomach, chest, and throat were tight, and his mouth felt dry. He regarded Alternative with warm, caring, eyes and Alternative swallowed a lump in his swollen throat before tearing his gaze away.

His mouth formed the shape of a word that never came out, before he bit his lip and glared out into the distance. It didn't matter whether Zero was there or not. Alternative was alone, either way. His world was dark; there was no light at the end of his tunnel. His best friend, Kay, was a psychopath, and the only other person he'd somehow stupidly let past his defences had torn him up from the inside out. Xanthus never gave him a chance, and Zero was dangerously getting past his wall and was almost touching his core… and there was nothing he could do about it.

His life was a joke. _He_ was a joke. The scars on his arms and legs were forever laughing at him, and he couldn't help but to make more; digging deeper and deeper each time, but never deep enough, no matter how many times he'd tried to end it. Some would call it luck – he called it cruel.

He wanted to be gone; forgotten; _dead._ But he hadn't yet been given the satisfaction of seeing at least one thing go right, in his miserable life.

Zero loosened his grip in Alternative's hand and turned to leave, but A's nails dug into his palm; stopping him. Zero turned back around, and Alternative's eyes had a strange, heavy, glint to them.

"Wait – " He rasped. "before you leave." He climbed to his feet and swayed a little, as a wave of dizziness overcame him.

He'd lost a lot of weight. His muscular frame was depleting into long, bony, fingers and thin arms. His face no longer had its boyish charm, but instead was heavily lined with anxieties premature to one of his age. He looked older; he looked unhealthy.

Alternative's grip on his hand reminded Zero of a G-Clamp; cold and tight, restricting of movement. Alternative edged closer to him as the fingers of his free hand threaded into his shirt, and he brought his face closer. Zero stiffened at the sudden close contact, but immediately relaxed as Alternative buried his head into his shoulder and tightly wrapped his arms around his waist. He was absorbing his warmth, his comfort.

Zero placed his hands onto Alternative's back and rested his head on his shoulder, to return the embrace. A hadn't washed in several days. He smelled of sweat, yet a faint remnant of soap still somehow clung to his skin.

The two remained tightly locked to one another, before Alternative slightly pulled away from Zero's shoulder to look him in the eye. The eye contact hadn't lasted as A's heart flipped, and he found himself crushing his lips against Zero's. He hadn't felt warm until he felt Zero's lips move against his with quick jittering nerves, until he was shoved off.  
It didn't hurt. Alternative's sudden warmth numbed him of feeling, and he smiled back at his friend, who in turn, was blushing with realisation of what had just happened.

"I'm sorry." He apologised. "I'm not – "

" – I know." A had continued to smile, and hadn't even noticed that his eyes began to prick with tears. "But thank you." His heart was hammering and his chest was aching. His hands were sweating over, and his skin was prickled with goosebumps, and somehow, Alternative – Andrew Spark – stopped feeling, as everything - every pitiful feeling he ever had – was numbed over with whitenoise. His troubles _actually_ became unimportant; not critical; nothing.  
The warmth inside of him slowly faded, and all he felt was the stinging cold. It was all he had left. It was all he cared to feel. All his worries and fears were finally gone for one bliss moment, and maybe – just maybe – he could convince himself that something good had finally happened in his life, even if it lasted just a brief second.

Zero was gone and out of sight, as far as he knew. Not that he could muster up the energy to look, let alone care anymore.

The breeze had risen again and Alternative lifted his arms as a way to embrace it, as he shut his eyes. His hair was pushed off his forehead, his shirt clung onto his chest for dear life and he felt the brush of leaves push past his opened right hand before he closed it; catching a palm-full of them and crunching them with his tightened fist. He opened his hand and let the crushed pieces sift between his fingers.

For a moment, he was happy. For a second he was no longer Alternative, but Andy. He was Andy Spark. He was a fresh-faced youth on his ninth year of existence. He was on the Canadian under-ages for softball; the champion of the team. He was a master at Hockey on the last game for the season. His father was an accountant, his mother a school teacher, his brother was still alive and fighting in Iraq. He had a dog; a Border Collie named Rocket. He had a cat; a Ragdoll named Hector. A goldfish in his bedroom named Purple. He had a lot of friends at school. He was invited to everyone's parties. All the girls had a crush on him… yet all the bigger boys picked on him. His dad was never home, his mother was always busy, he barely knew his twenty four year old brother anymore. After being shipped off to Iraq, he'd changed. He was different… he was no longer the same old Benny, who used to always have a quick smile and a matching sense of humour.

He was in his bedroom. The door was white, the walls were blue, posters of his favourite sporting heroes were tacked up. He was spinning a small football between his hands; brown skin, white laces, black print on the front but he couldn't recall what it said. His mother opened the door, her eyes were wet, her face red, a sheet of yellow paper in one hand and the landline phone in the other.

"Andy?" She asked. Her voice was broken, but the tone was tight. "It's your brother. Benjamin." She was trembling.

Andy knew there was something wrong, but there was nothing but confusion filling him. "What about Benny?" He stupidly asked.

"He's gone." And that was all it took. Those two words that utterly destroyed his family.

Benjamin Spark was shot in the head. Right between the eyes. His skull was completely cleaned out. There was not a single speck of brain matter left.

It wasn't too long before little Andy caught his mother stuffing pills down her throat every morning. It wasn't long until his father abandoned them and took Rocket with him. It wasn't long before Andy lost himself in grief and stole through an old suitcase shipped home, full of his late brother's belongings, crying and screaming "_Why did you have to die?"_ It wasn't long until he discovered a shiny pocket knife with their family's surname engraved on the enamel. It wasn't long until he was blinded by tears and shaking at the hands, until he drew out the knife and made the first cut directly across his wrist. He bled all over the carpet and his brother's belongings, howling to himself as he bit the knife into his flesh again and made cut after cut after cut until he curled into a ball and cried himself to sleep.

His mother had discovered him the next morning, and that was the last hug he'd ever received from her. She held him for hours as they sobbed. She didn't have the energy to be angry about the blood, didn't have the energy to think twice about his cuts. She simply doused them in vinegar and tightly wrapped a bandage around the abused wrist for him before locking herself in the bathroom and swallowing pill after pill of god knows what, until all she could do was forget about work and sleep away the whole day, while Andy continued to suffer at school.

The news had gotten out about his brother. Benjamin Spark was somewhat of a hero to he and his friends at school, and at first, everyone was feeling sorry for poor little Andy. Everyone tried their best to cheer him up, but when they realised it simply didn't work, they left him. One by one, he lost all of his trusted friends. The girls lost interest in him. The bigger boys teased him about his dead brother and newly divorced parents, and he could no longer find solace in his team sports.

Andy was gone. Andy was reduced to nothing but an empty shell.

His mother was the first to go. She was addicted to sleeping pills. Surprisingly, she didn't overdose, but she vomited in her sleep and choked to death. Andy discovered her, as he was the only one living with her. All he could smell was vomit and piss, and that smell would cling to him for the rest of his life. The room he'd found her in was occupied by the noise of the ticking of her bedside clock, and the birds outside, singing their sickening, eerily cheerful song of the morning that he would never forget.

His father was given custody of Andy next, which meant moving to America, where he didn't fit in at all. The kids at school were all bigger than him. They were rougher. Louder. Angrier. Meaner.

Andy suffered for years with little friends and a lot of bullying. He forced himself back into sports to gain a foothold somewhere, but his heart wasn't in it. He was beaten, and demeaned, and called "faggot" almost everywhere he went.

His father became a heavy gambler, and was in a debt as deep as Marianna's Trench. People were after him, and eventually, they found him.  
Andy came home from a hard day of school to find himself alone. He stayed up all night, too afraid to turn on the television or make something to eat in case his father suddenly came bounding through the door. It never happened. His father was never discovered again after a long, hauling search that lasted two years.

His cheeks were damp and sticky. His hair clung tight onto his scalp and his dirty, stained shirt had become a second skin to him. He was Alternative again. Shivering in the cold winds, crying, alone again. His past was gone, and soon, his present would be, too.

Alternative stepped closer to the cusp of the building. Gravel spilt off the edge, the ground was far gone. His perspective felt warped and mangled as he stared down below. It was a long way down, but he wasn't bothered being so close to death.

He shot his head up and stared at the grey, overcast clouds. Goosebumps struck his skin from the cold and his breath was a visible plume of white smoke. He knew they were watching him. Mum… Dad… and Benny. They were up there, waiting for him, waiting for him to finally join them. Waiting for him to end his misery and finally fucking be happy. Finally have the perfect ending he could only dream about.

He wasn't afraid, and the wind whipping him back away from the edge of Wammy's wasn't stopping him.

His heart was hammering, he could hear it behind his ear drums. A fast, steady beat. It was with him. It was a part of him. Counting down the seconds until his final leap of faith. His hands were shaking. He spread his arms and let the wind _try_ to suspend him, _try_ to push him away, _try_ to change his mind.

But there was nothing left for him.

The wind shoved his matted hair off his face as he finally lost his footing. The wind burnt his eyes until he shut them. He let his memories fade. Let his feelings die down. Let himself try and imagine having more than just a shred of happiness, tried to imagine a whole world that was just _perfect_ and completely, one hundred percent _flawless._ It couldn't be an impossibility now, because he was finally getting what he'd always wanted, and he knew it once he felt the force of the ground collide with him. He was shut out from all senses of pain. He was gone. He was finally free.

.-.

" I suppose every minute of your life is a choice… and somehow, my dear Andrew, I believe you've made the right one." Beyond Birthday muttered, digging his hands deep into his pockets as he leaned forward and peered down the edge of Wammy's, from the rooftop.

.-.

**This chapter was the hardest I've ever had to write. Alternative was my favourite character to write as, and I almost couldn't bring myself to lose him. He's been a part of me for probably four years now as I started writing this fanfiction when I was around fifteen, and two weeks ago, I just turned eighteen… and despite how long this took to produce, how painful it was to write, how emotional it was for me, I'm glad I've written it because A is finally free.**

**I'd been planning for a year now to have Beyond do it; to throw him or push him off the building, but I just couldn't let the one thing that's ever gone right for A, to be spoiled by B. **

**This fanfiction is almost over. Next chapter will be short and sweet, and also the last.**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review. Tell me your thoughts! Thank you for reading **


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